"Pre-draft picture" is a position-by-position look at the Packers' roster heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. The series begins with the quarterbacks.
GREEN BAY – While Jordan Love's arrow remains pointing up, the Packers will have a new backup quarterback in 2026.
That's the succinct outlook for the position heading into the draft, which could see Green Bay spend one of its five Day 3 picks on a QB prospect to compete for the No. 2 job.
But a quick look at Love first.
In 2025, as in 2024, Love missed a couple of games due to injuries, but his third season as QB1 was arguably his most efficient.
Love set career highs in completion percentage (66.3) and passer rating (101.2) while throwing just six interceptions compared to 11 in each of his first two seasons running the offense.
He also posted a triple-digit passer rating in a playoff game for the first time since his lights-out postseason debut in Dallas a little more than two years ago, as he threw for 323 yards and four TD passes without an INT in the loss at Chicago.
Reflecting at the scouting combine in February, General Manager Brian Gutekunst called it "some of his best football" and praised Love's leadership, which gives him plenty to continue building on as he enters Year 4 at the helm. The hope is for a fully healthy season, an effort that was derailed by a concussion in Week 16 at Chicago last December that kept him out until the playoff rematch.
When Love was sidelined, for the past two years the Packers enjoyed outstanding play from Malik Willis, but now Willis is in Miami with a sizable free-agent contract to be the Dolphins' starter under new head coach Jeff Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, both Green Bay transplants.
So the Packers' QB2 is a major uncertainty at this stage, though there are currently two in-house candidates.
The experienced one, in the Willis mold so to speak, is Desmond Ridder, whom the Packers signed to the practice squad in Week 18 last year and then activated for the playoffs as the No. 3.
A third-round pick in 2022 by Atlanta, Ridder (6-3, 211) started 17 games over two seasons with the Falcons, posting an 8-9 record and throwing 14 TD passes against 12 INTs. A mobile QB, he also rushed for five TDs in 2023.
Since then, he's bounced around, getting traded to the Cardinals but losing the backup QB battle to Clayton Tune (who spent time as the Packers' No. 3 last season). He went from Arizona's practice squad to Las Vegas, where he saw game action in relief and for one start in 2024. Then last year, he spent time with Cincinnati in training camp and on Minnesota's active roster and practice squad before arriving in Green Bay.
Based on his experience, he'd be considered the favorite to be Love's backup at this point, but he'll have to earn it in the upcoming offseason program and training camp.
His current competition is Kyle McCord, a sixth-round draft pick by the Eagles last year who spent his entire rookie season on Philadelphia's practice squad. The Packers signed him just after the season ended in January.
McCord started a total of 26 games in college at Ohio State (2022-23) and Syracuse (2024). In his one season with the Orange, McCord set single-season school records for completions (391), passing yards (4,779) and passing TDs (34), with the passing yards also setting the Atlantic Coast Conference record.
"It's pretty early with Desmond and Kyle, but we'll get to know those guys," Gutkeunst said.
Might more competition be arriving via the draft or undrafted free agency? It's certainly possible, as Gutekunst has often expressed how much value he places on the game's most important position and how important it is to continue developing young prospects there.
Neither of the last two QBs he's drafted – Sean Clifford in 2023 and Michael Pratt in 2024 – proved to be an adequate answer as Love's backup, which prompted the trade for Willis at the end of the '24 preseason. So another such move later this summer can't be ruled out, either.
