
Ian Hartitz examines how Jordan Love could get back to being a starting-caliber QB in fantasy football 2026.

That closing kick in 2023 is still fresh in our minds when Jordan Love threw for 20 TDs against just 3 INTs in his last nine regular-season games of that season. Can he get back there again? Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Green Bay Packers Team Preview.
Plenty of nerdy efficiency metrics paint Love as one of the game's better QBs since taking over in 2023:
Love among 42 QBs with 500+ dropbacks in 2023-25 (including playoffs):
The man has also been particularly lethal in 3rd-and-long situations: Only Brock Purdy (33.3%), Josh Allen (29%) and Joe Burrow (28.7%) have better first-down pass rates on 3rd-and-8+ than Love (28.2%) since 2023.
And yet, the results have been more meh than great in fantasy land during the last two seasons. 2023 (18.8 fantasy points per game, QB5) showed the ceiling at hand, but Love simply didn't put up the same counting numbers in 2024 (15.6, QB17) or 2025 (15.7, QB20).
The easiest explanation: Injuries.
Love sprained his MCL in Week 1, 2024 in Brazil-induced playing conditions that resembled Sherbet Land.
Not great, but also not something that we should necessarily expect to hinder Love moving forward. There's upside to get back to top-tier fantasy heights here should the Injury Gods cooperate, as clearly the lower-body issues impacted his rushing ability in 2024 (5.5 rushing yards per game) relative to 2023 (14.5) and 2025 (13.3). The main difference between those two seasons: Love had four rushing scores in 2023 compared to zero in 2025.
Ultimately, Love has the sort of high-end efficiency metrics to conclude he is, in fact, a very good professional QB. He has a documented top-5 fantasy finish within the last three years. This supporting cast has consistently been among the league's better groups. Matt LaFleur is widely considered one of the league's better schemers and playcallers.
Still just 27 years young, Love is not a good late-round QB—he's a great one.
Also note: Malik Willis took his talents to South Beach in free agency, leading Green Bay to sign 36-year-old journeyman Tyrod Taylor. He'll compete (and almost certainly win) the backup job from Kyle McCord. Taylor (23.8 rushing yards per game in 2025) can still move around well and will be in the low-end QB2 conversation should Love be forced to miss any game action.



