The Green Bay Packers made a very peculiar decision in the first round of the NFL Draft last Thursday, trading up to take Utah State quarterback Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick.
That creates a rather awkward situation with Aaron Rodgers, who we can all safely assume was hoping the Packers would draft a wide receiver—or anything other than a quarterback—with their first pick.
But general manager Brian Gutekunst provided an explanation for the team's move on Sunday:
“I’m very hopeful Aaron continues to play at a high level for years to come,” Gutekunst said, according to Peter King of NBC Sports. “I know a lot of people are saying this puts a clock on Aaron, but I don’t see that at all. We prioritize the quarterback position, and have for a long time with this franchise. I remember one year in camp they had Brett Favre, Ty Detmer, Kurt Warner and maybe Mark Brunell. It’s one of the most important positions in sports, and if you don’t have one, you can’t win.”
Of course, Green Bay did something similar back in 2005, when it drafted none other than Rodgers in spite of the fact that Favre still had several years left in the tank.
Rodgers ended up taking over as the starting quarterback in 2008.
Love is coming off of a rather disappointing junior campaign in which he threw for 3,402 yards, 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while completing 61.9 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 129.1, which makes the Packers' decision to trade up to land him that much stranger.
Green Bay won 13 games and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game this past season.
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