For the first time since the 2007 NFL season, the Packers will have a new starting quarterback.
That new player in charge of Green Bay's offense, Jordan Love, has an unenviable task: replace 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl 45 champion Aaron Rodgers, who leveraged a trade to the Jets this offseason after 18 years with the Pack.
The 2023 season will mark the first meaningful campaign for Love, whom Green Bay tabbed as Rodgers' heir apparent when it traded up to select him 26th overall in 2020 NFL Draft. To date, he has appeared in 10 games — starting one — and completed 50 of 83 passes (60.2 percent) for 606 yards and three touchdowns to three interceptions. He also has 26 rushing yards on 13 career attempts.
At least one Green Bay player has publicly gone all in on the first-year starter: second-year receiver Romeo Doubs. He told Spectrum News 1 (Milwaukee, Wis.) on Friday that Love is fully capable of replicating Rodgers' success in Green Bay.
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"I think Jordan can do it," Doubs was quoted as saying. "I think Jordan is a really good quarterback. When you go from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan, Aaron was a really great quarterback, but I believe Jordan can do the same exact thing.
"So I don’t really see what’s the big difference."
That's a strong vote of confidence from Doubs, especially considering Green Bay did not pick up Love's fifth-year option. Instead, the signed him to a one-year extension that, while similarly structured to a fifth-year option, sees him lose roughly $10 million in guaranteed money.
Whether Love can prove himself a long-term successor to Rodgers remains to be seen, but support from Doubs and other teammates can only help the signal-caller's confidence. Doubs last season was tied as Rodgers' third most-targeted receiver. He caught 42 passes on 67 targets and finished fourth in catches, yards (425) and receiving touchdowns (three).
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Doubs will be expected to take on more of a leadership role in a young receiving corps, considering this is Love's first season as a starter. That's especially true with Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard leaving in the offseason to reunite with Rodgers with the Jets.
That said, Doubs sees the Packers heading in the right direction in 2023.
"I see a progression. I see it going up. I don’t see the Packers going down," Doubs told Spectrum News. "I only focus on our room and our team in this organization. This organization is historic, and it’s only winning. That’s all."