Life Without Jordan Love
If Jordan Love misses a month’s worth of time, the Packers will need a new quarterback. The in-house solution for the Packers would be backup Malik Willis or practice player Sean Clifford. Before roster cutdowns, Willis was traded to the Packers at the end of August as a failed “Franchise QB” from the Titans. Willis, out of college, had incredible raw talent, but the mechanics were poor. Sean Clifford was a former 2023 fifth-round pick who failed to win this summer’s backup job. So, who’s it going to be?
Willis is likely going to be the next man up in this situation. Willis had three starts during his time in Tennessee, which went horribly. During those games in his rookie season, he finished with the following.
| Comp | Att | Pass Yds | TD | INT | Att | Rush Yds | TDs | FPPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 49 | 234 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 95 | 1 | 7.3 |
The Titans didn’t trust Willis to throw the ball much, but he showed the ability to run for yards. Willis may have an upgraded offense compared to his team in Tennessee, but that won’t matter. Willis still has no grasp of reading coverages or throwing around them accurately. He will be a QB3 until he can provide fantasy-rushing production. I’d look to trade away Willis for a 2025 3rd round pick. I doubt the Packers will give him much of a leash if he struggles as the starter. You may also find Willis on dynasty waivers that you could scoop up. I wouldn’t use more than 15% of your FAAB budget to acquire him, so there’s still room to trade him for extra value.
You could also get Sean Clifford for free, who has a better feel as a pocket passer and could better manage this offense. If the Packers look for an outside source, then look toward a player like Ryan Tannehill, who is still a free agent.
New Offensive Landscape
Josh Jacobs
This is going to be good and bad for running back Josh Jacobs. The team may lean on the backfield to run the ball more to help the offense. Jacobs had a rough start with six carries for four yards in last night’s first half. He rebounded and showed more explosiveness, running for 80 yards in the second half. You should expect defenses to focus on Jacobs and force whoever plays quarterback to beat them through the air. I don’t think Jacobs’ overall fantasy value changes much, but I expect the backfield to see more carries early in games while Love is out.
The Pass Catchers
The pass catchers take a drop in value with Malik Willis at quarterback. That could change if someone else takes over, but Willis is hard to trust as a passer. The Packers may elect to go with even more 12 personnel (two tight ends) under Willis to give him more time or help establish the run better. The issue is that Jayden Reed could suffer the most if the team elects to. In Friday night’s game, the Packers ran 12 plays in 12 personnel. Reed played 0 snaps in that formation.
| 11 – Personnel | Snaps (45 Total Snaps) | 12 – Personnel | Snaps (12 Total Snaps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romeo Doubs | 41 | Romeo Doubs | 10 |
| Jayden Reed | 40 | Dontayvion Wicks | 9 |
| Christian Watson | 32 | Christian Watson | 4 |
| Dontayvion Wicks | 17 | Bo Metlon | 1 |
| Bo Metlon | 5 | Jayden Reed | 0 |
This could hurt his snap count, causing him to see fewer opportunities on offense to produce in fantasy. Reed would be a hold for me in my books. I’d ride out the decreased value until Love comes back. Hopefully, at max, it is only four weeks that Reed will have to deal with sub-par quarterback play.
The rest of the offense’s upside is capped without Love on the field. Willis has a big arm but poor deep-ball accuracy, hurting players like Christian Watson. Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks shouldn’t be in consideration for your starting lineup. It’s going to be challenging for this receiver group in fantasy. Reed hopefully still has some sort of WR3 value with his potential rushing touches. The rest of the unit isn’t looked at confidently as WR4s but more as WR5s (or worse).
As for the tight ends, we saw Tucker Kraft (96%) outsnap Luke Musgrave (25%), so Kraft may be the new TE1. Kraft may also be a sneaky mid-range TE2 under Willis as a safe option over the middle of the field. They could both see more involvement in the offense if the Packers move to more 12 personnel.
Thank you for reading! For further fantasy advice, hit me up on X @CoachStevenP or on the Dynasty Nerds Discord! My content is aimed at those in the #NerdHerd wanting easily digestible information to help them win a dynasty championship.
