NFC North quarterback reality proves how smart the Packers were to draft Jordan Love when they did

Go check out the quarterbacks around the NFL, and you can see the high investment teams are forced to make there. The NFC North is the biggest recent example of that reality. With the addition of Kyler Murray by the Minnesota Vikings, the three Green Bay Packers rivals have former first overall picks at the position — beyond Murray, Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams and Detroit Lions' Jared Goff.

It's funny, but Jordan Love has been materially better than the other three players, even though he was a late first-round pick — the 26th overall pick in 2020. And that proves why the Packers made the right call six years ago.

It's a process

There are multiple avenues to acquire quarterbacks these days. Murray signed with the Vikings for the veteran minimum after being cut by the Arizona Cardinals. Jared Goff was part of a bigger trade that sent Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams, and arrived in Detroit mostly as a salary dump. Caleb Williams was the one quarterback drafted by an NFC North team with the first overall pick, but he's only entering his third NFL season.

The Packers have had continued success in the league, so they will rarely be in a position to select a highly-touted quarterback with a top draft pick. Instead, they selected Love, a prospect with high upside but very raw, and developed him under Aaron Rodgers.

Sure, the process of taking a quarterback when Rodgers was still playing at an MVP-caliber level was questionable at the time. But it's undeniable that it generated excellent results.

Not every team will have the chance to do something like that. Usually, general managers and head coaches put their jobs at risk by taking QBs early, and it's hard to find a situation where a team can realistically sit a first-round quarterback for three years.

But the Packers operate under a very particular set of circumstances, and they took advantage of that — both going from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, then from Rodgers to Jordan Love.

The NFC North has three former first overall picks at quarterback. However, the exception is the best one after all.