With The First Pick
Fansided

Hype for Utah State QB Jordan Love continues to build

By Bryan Perez

EAST LANSING, MI - AUGUST 31: Jordan Love #10 of the Utah State Aggies tries to escape the tackle of Andrew Dowell #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at Spartan Stadium on August 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 38-31.(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - AUGUST 31: Jordan Love #10 of the Utah State Aggies tries to escape the tackle of Andrew Dowell #5 of the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at Spartan Stadium on August 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 38-31.(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Utah State QB Jordan Love continues to receive praise from respected NFL draft analysts.

There’s little debate about the top of the expected 2020 NFL draft quarterback class. Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert are the headliners and will jockey for the right to potentially be the No. 1 overall pick all season long.

The fun with this year’s group of quarterback rankings begins at No. 3, where several players will begin the fall with a good chance to become that guy. Georgia’s Jake Fromm is the most commonly mentioned name heading into Week 1, but the hype and excitement building around Utah State’s Jordan Love is hard to ignore.

NFL network’s Daniel Jeremiah recently reached out to NFL personnel executives who raved about Love; he ended up third on Jeremiah’s preseason QB rankings behind Tagovailoa and Herbert. And while Jeremiah is a respected draft analyst, his opinion of Love might be taken a little less seriously if he was an outlier.

He isn’t.

Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy echoed Jeremiah’s thoughts following Andrew Luck’s shocking retirement; Nagy suggested the Colts will have strong first-round options who can replace Luck, including Love.

“The good news for Colts fans is that there’s potentially three legitimate first-round QB’s in the 2020 NFL draft,” Nagy tweeted Saturday. “Oregon’s Justin Herbert, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, and Utah State’s Jordan Love.”

Nagy later defended his inclusion of Love in the first-round conversation by tweeting he was confident in this cluster of three quarterbacks with first-round potential.

This is quite the meteoric rise for Love, who until recently wasn’t a player who was mentioned as a top-five quarterback let alone a first-round pick.

Next. How Andrew Luck's retirement impacts 2020 NFL draft. dark

Love threw for 3,567 yards, 32 TDs and 6 INTs in 2018 and at an estimated 6-4, 220 pounds, he checks all the boxes from a big-picture perspective. He’s an exciting player on the field, too, but there’s growth required as a pocket passer. He needs to speed up his processing time, make better decisions and ultimately put reps on tape that will make scouts certain he’ll have little trouble transitioning to the NFL.

As of now, scouts and draft analysts are betting on him to make those improvements. And if he does, he’ll end up as a first-round prospect.

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