Packers Preseason Game 1 Wrap-Up

or, seeing signs in the intricate

Football is back and I spent the better part of the week reading entirely too much into a single preseason game. Or maybe not enough. Time will tell, I guess.

Anyway, since I spent time talking/writing about football in different spots, I thought I would gather it all here in one spot. We call that “creating more content from other content,” aka, laziness.

Let’s start off with the big question from the week: how did Jordan Love do? I took ~40 minutes and walked through all 10 of his throws, talking about the passing concepts, the reads, the defense, the throws, etc.

Because I know not everyone likes to watch a video that long, I also took all 10 of those throws and briefly wrote them up in this very space.

I wasn’t alone in doing this, of course. How Jordan Love looks is not just the question of the preseason; it’s the question of the Packers immediate (and possible long-term) future. Because of that, it got a lot of coverage. If you want more takes on how he did, I very much recommend Big Mac Breakdowns on YouTube. He does a great job with this stuff. Subscribe to his channel before he absolutely blows up.

JT O’Sullivan (former QB who spent a year in Green Bay) also broke it down over at his excellent QB School channel.

If you’re more into the written word, Rich Madrid did a great job of analysis over at Acme Packing Company.

Of course, Love started the game, but the bulk of the throws came from the 5th round rookie Sean Clifford (who is, hilariously, older than Jordan Love). He turned quite a few heads, so I wanted to dig into his performance in the same way I looked at Love. So if you’re wanting ~40 minutes of Sean Clifford analysis, buddy, I’ve got you covered. (Also, you should seek help.)

There were a couple other breakout performers in this game. Emanuel Wilson came in and put up a show, gaining 111 yards and 2 TDs on 6 carries. He had a few non-passing snaps as well, and someone asked how he looked on those. There’s not a ton of glean from those snaps, but I felt like it was a worthwhile look.

The other breakout performer was Carrington Valentine, the 7th round rookie cornerback from UK. He’s been making some noise in training camp and had a handful of highlight plays against the Bengals, leading some to some folks begging to get him in the starting defense. While he certainly has a lot of talent, I walked through a few plays that show some concerns I have about his game. Not to say that I think he’s bad: more a look at some areas of growth he will still likely need before he can be counted on for regular playing time.

Last but not least, I wrote about the Spin concept over at Cheesehead TV and how it looked different from when we saw it last season.

Overall, I really fun week of thinking entirely too much about a preseason game. Can’t wait to do it all again next week.