Surprise QB tops former GM's ranking of 2020 QB draft class
Jordan Love's recent strong play has one former general manager singing his praises.
As Love and the Packers get set to take on the No. 1 seed 49ers in the NFL divisional round, Rick Spielman — who served as GM of the Vikings from 2012 to 2021 — claimed he'd take the 25-year-old over several other highly talented quarterbacks.
When asked on CBS' "With the First Pick " podcast to rank the 2020 QB class in order of which player he'd want on his team for the next five years, Spielman placed Love No. 1 on his list. Bengals' Joe Burrow came in at second, followed by Chargers' Justin Herbert, Eagles' Jalen Hurts and Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa.
Spielman's ranking comes as a surprise for multiple reasons. Of the five top quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft, Love was taken second-to-last with the 26th overall pick. Only Hurts, who the Eagles selected with the 53rd overall pick in the second round, came after.
Love additionally has the least amount of starting experience among any of the aforementioned QBs. After sitting behind four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers for the first three seasons of his NFL career, the Utah State product finally got his chance to start in 2023. Burrow, Herbert, Hurts and Tagovailoa, meanwhile, have each played in 52 or more games over the last four seasons compared to Love's 27.
Then there's the accolades that these quarterbacks — not named Love — have accomplished.
The 2020 QB class has been well represented in the Super Bowl as of late, with Burrow and Hurts leading their teams to the big game in 2022 and 2023, respectively, although both wound up losing. The pair were additionally named finalists for the 2022 AP MVP award, but were each slightly edged out by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Herbert and Tagovailoa have also accomplished quite a lot in their young careers. The former has the most passing yards by a quarterback in his first four seasons (17,223), while the latter was named an AFC starter in the Pro Bowl this season after leading the NFL in passing yards (4,624).
And yet, among all these franchise quarterbacks, Love is the only one that's still standing in the playoffs. With a 48-32 win over the Cowboys in the wild-card round, the Packers not only became the first No. 7 seed to win a playoff game, but also the youngest team (average age: 25 years, 214 days) to win in the postseason since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970.
With an upset win over the 49ers, Love could further cement himself as one of the top quarterbacks, both in his draft and in the league.
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