The Green Bay Packers entered last season with low expectations.
It was the first season they would be without Aaron Rodgers as their starting QB —and although Jordan Love had flashed in the few moments he saw live game action as Rodgers’ backup — nobody knew if the former Utah State signal caller had what it took to thrive as a NFL starter.
Despite a first-year starter at QB and one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, the 2023 Packers surprised just about everyone in NFL circles.
Love clearly cemented himself as the long-term answer at QB for the Green Bay Packers. While he wasn’t perfect early on, he only got better as each game passed and by the second half of the season, it was clear the Packers found something special when it came to the most important position in the NFL. Love helped lead the Packers to wins in 6 of their final 8 regular season games which secured a WIldcard playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
With a ton of pressure to win a playoff game on the road against one of the top defenses in the NFL, Love was poised, accurate and efficient, finishing 16-of-21 for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Packers upset the Cowboys 48-32.
Heading into 2024, the Green Bay Packers are considered a legitimate threat to make a run a Super Bowl with a young core of offensive talent, the addition of Josh Jacobs in the backfield and a defense that has the talent to be a top 10 unit with a new defensive coordinator running the show.
Love’s health will be a major factor, but he doesn’t have any significant injury history. Behind hm at QB, there will likely be a competition for the backup role between Sean Clifford — the former Penn State QB who the Packers drafted last year — and Michael Pratt, who they selected out of Tulane late in the 2024 NFL Draft last week.
The only other QB on the roster is Alex McGough, who thrived in the USFL but has never taken a NFL snap. But it doesn’t sound like McGough will be competing for a backup QB role heading into the 2024 season. Head coach Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay staff has different plans for their third string signal caller from 2023.
Green Bay Packers Are Moving QB Alex McGough To WR In 2024
In a press conference last week, Packers head coach Matt LafLeur announced they were going to try to move McGough to WR and see if his athleticism translates to him making the team at a brand new position.
“He’s a really athletic guy,” LaFleur said. “One thing I know you didn’t see last year is he spent a lot of time on the practice squad or on the scout team running receiver routes. And he did such a great job. We feel like he’s just such a talented athlete, why not give him a chance there. He’s a smart guy, works his tail off, I think he can definitely contribute on [special teams], as well. So we felt like that might be his chance here.”
McGough entered the NFL as a seventh-round selection of the Seahawks in the 2018 NFL Draft, spending two stints with them and also logging time with the Jaguars and Texans before joining the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2022.
There, in 2023, McGough came off the bench to replace an injured J’Mar Smith in the team’s first game, never to look back. He led the Stallions to a championship thanks in part to the efforts that made him that year’s USFL Most Valuable Player.
McGough threw for 2,104 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions, and he showed off his legs to the tune of five more scores and 403 yards on the ground.
The Green Bay Packers took notice, signing him and then stashing him on the practice squad following last year’s training camp.
The mobility he displayed in the USFL, combined with the athleticism evident in scout team work during his 2023 season in Green Bay, has provided McGough his next opportunity at finding a more permanent home in the NFL.
He switches over to a young Packers WR room brimming with potential, as Green Bay passed on drafting at the position thanks to the collective development of Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.
McGough will have to stand out on a team filled with young, talented pass-catchers and likely show a knack for special teams if he’s going to make the Green Bay Packers active roster at WR.. If he does, his first official NFL snap on offense now appears destined to come out wide rather than under center.
