Following the departure of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers are now young and inexperienced at the position. Jordan Love is set to take over as the starting quarterback for one of the most historic franchises in NFL history, but how will the rest of the room shake out? As it stands, Packers rookie Sean Clifford is making his case to win the backup quarterback role.
The fifth-round selection has already proved some of the doubters wrong. Multiple reporters at practice detailed that Clifford had an impressive outing on Tuesday, despite many questioning the pick. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky shared his reaction to a remarkable two-minute drive led by the rookie and others have followed with the same praise for the show Clifford has seemingly been putting on at practice.
Clifford was heavily touted as a highly experienced quarterback at Penn State, which is what mainly lured the Packers to select him. It was widely expected that the experienced backup the Packers would bring on the roster to mentor Love and be ready to step in if needed would be a veteran. However, the Packers have shown support for Clifford by not pursuing quarterbacks such as Teddy Bridgewater, Matt Ryan, and Nick Foles who are still available on the open market.
Based on reports from the Organized Team Activities, that decision seems to have paid off. With Love taking the starting reps, Clifford has shown off his arm strength and accuracy while splitting the second-team reps with quarterback Danny Etling.
After drafting Clifford with the 149th overall pick, general manager Brian Gutekunst backed his decision by mentioning the run on the quarterback position that forced their hand. The 24-year-old met with the Packers during a pre-draft visit and left with great reviews from Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur.
“Sean is a guy who is really intelligent,” LaFleur said back in April. “He’s played a lot of games, he’s got some athleticism [and] he’s a natural thrower. All the things we look for in quarterbacks, he possesses.”
The backup competition will continue throughout the coming weeks as the team gets closer and closer to the start of training camp and eventually preseason action. If the rookie continues to impress, it’ll be unlikely that the Packers will pursue adding an additional quarterback to the roster.
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Kole Noble is a lifelong Packers fan currently living in North Carolina and is a huge NFL Draft nut. You can follow him on twitter at @SlawSportsShow.
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