GREEN BAY, Wis. – Roster spots or starting jobs won’t be won or lost during the two weeks of OTAs that will begin on Tuesday for the Green Bay Packers. At quarterback, there’s not even much intrigue at the top of the depth chart.
Jordan Love is back for Year 3 as the team’s starting quarterback. Malik Willis, who went from buried on the Titans’ depth chart to saving Green Bay’s season, is back as the backup. The race for No. 3 will be interesting, with Canadian import Taylor Elgersma set to challenge former fifth-round pick Sean Clifford for a spot on the roster or practice-squad duties.
Packers Quarterback Depth Chart
Veterans: Jordan Love, Malik Willis, Sean Clifford.
Rookie: Taylor Elgersma (undrafted).
Big Question at Quarterback
The big change isn’t on the roster. It’s the coach, with former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion replacing longtime quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. Can Mannion turn Jordan Love into a consistently great quarterback?
Coach Matt LaFleur was the offensive coordinator for the Rams in 2017 when Mannion was the backup quarterback. Last offseason, LaFleur added him to the coaching staff in what essentially was on-the-job training to replace Clements.
“Man, Tom was a great mentor for me to work with last year. To just be around (him) in the QB room was awesome,” Mannion said last week. “Such a unique thing, for him to have his fingertips on three great quarterbacks in one organization. To me, Tom was just the picture of stability, being a stable presence in the QB room, even-keeled at all times.
“There’s a lot of stuff that the quarterback position has to juggle, but he was always a stable presence. I think the focus on the details and the fundamentals, he was a great example of that. Really, I was writing notes all the time just thinking about when I would get the opportunity to be in that role. Learned a ton from Tom.”
Mannion is inheriting a strong group. Love is the franchise quarterback who reached the playoffs in each of his two seasons as the starter. Willis, a third-round pick in 2022, arrived in Green Bay just in time to start victories against the Colts and Titans. Clifford was good enough as a rookie to be the backup but not good enough to keep the job. While it wasn’t enough to get drafted, Elgersma has intriguing potential.
As it was with Clements, the focus will be on the fundamentals.
“I think it’s ownership of our progressions and timing and reading with our feet, and then just the fundamentals of the position,” Mannion said. “To me, it really starts with footwork. That’s something that all quarterbacks need to focus on, but I know really when I was first exposed to it was with Matt in LA in 2017.
“It was really a kind of foundational moment in my playing career. I got so much better from understanding how the footwork helps your accuracy. It helps your decision-making. It helps the timing of the play. So, that’s really kind of the starting point of what, really, with any quarterback, but Jordan in particular, we really just always want to have that point of emphasis at the forefront of our mind.”
Even with five seasons in the NFL and 33 starts under his belt, Love’s got untapped potential. He has every physical tool you could want, from arm strength to athleticism. Now, it will be up to Mannion to make Love, at least, the sum of his individual parts.
A third-round pick in 2015, Mannion spent time with the Rams, Vikings and Seahawks. As the backup to the likes of Jared Goff with the Rams, Kirk Cousins with the Vikings and Geno Smith with the Seahawks, Mannion has a lot of history he can “sprinkle in” to help Love take the next step in his development.
“I think you can speak to what these guys are going through,” Mannion said, “so when they’re handed an install, you can look at it and say, ‘OK, there might be 15 things here. What needs to be the first five that are really going to help him execute the play at its highest level?’ And then we can also get to items six through 12 or six through 15.
“So, I think just having been handed a playbook and be like, ‘Learn this,’ you kind of have a plan of attack in mind because you’ve been in that position where you’re coming in on short notice, maybe it’s a midyear acquisition. Or it’s my second training camp in the same system, third training camp in the same system, what do I want to get out of this? So, I think those are the things that you lean on thinking about your playing experience.”
Mannion spent last year working with Love in a supporting role. Now, he’ll be taking the lead. The next step in their relationship will begin with two weeks of OTAs and next month’s mandatory minicamp.
“He’s a great talent,” Mannion said. “He’s a great person. He’s a great person to work with every day and he has great habits, so I think when you combine those three things, really, the sky is the limit.”
Extra Point
There’s no doubt Love will start and Willis will be the backup. The intrigue will be the No. 3 battle between Clifford and Elgersma. Remember, Willis will be a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, so the No. 3 quarterback in 2025 could be one snap away from being the No. 1 quarterback in 2026.
Elgersma comes highly regarded by the quarterbacks coach of the Toronto Argonauts, who compared him with a Pro Football Hall of Famer, and his personal coach, who helped get him ready for the opportunity.
Elgersma won Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy last year. How quickly can he acclimate himself to the NFL, which is played by different rules and played by a different caliber of athlete?
Can he unseat Clifford? His ability to progress through three weeks of shorts-and-helmets practices will be interesting to watch.
“He’s got a unique background,” Mannion said. “He’s played Canadian rules football throughout college and (was) a hockey player until he was in grade 10. He’s a talented guy. Came in and did a great job for us in rookie minicamp. I think for me, what was most impressive was his ability to learn and ability to retain information, his command in and out of the huddle.
“There’s going to be some things that are foreign to him, but the way he was able to retain information [was impressive]. He’s got a lot of things to work on, for sure, but there was talent there. He did a nice job at rookie minicamp. We’re excited to add him to the room with Jordan and Malik and Sean. It’s a great group to work with across the board.”