Aaron Rodgers is losing in New York, while Jordan Loves leads the resilient Green Bay Packers.
Deshaun Watson is barely holding onto his job in Cleveland, while C.J. Stroud turns the Houston Texans into Super Bowl contenders.
GettyC.J. Stroud is an MVP candidate and has the Texans near the top of the NFL[/caption]
The new era in the NFL is never far away, and the next collection of big-name quarterbacks has already arrived.
With Tom Brady officially retired and now being a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, pro football needs someone else to compete with Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson for prime time rights.
The 23-year-old Stroud is the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year and enters Week 7 ranked seventh in quarterback rating (66.3).
After guiding the Texans’ stunning 2023 turnaround, the former Ohio State star is a 2024 MVP candidate and is Houston’s undisputed leader.
On Sunday, the 5-1 Texans face the 4-2 Packers at famous Lambeau Field, with rain predicted and Green Bay favored to win.
But doubting Stroud has already proved regrettable in the pros.
He’s 14-7 as a starter with a 65.2 completion percentage and has thrown 33 touchdowns compared to just nine interceptions.
Love was also doubted when he entered the NFL as the No. 26 overall pick in 2020 out of Utah State.
With Rodgers locked in as the Packers’ franchise QB, Love was forced to wait and wait.
He didn’t play as a rookie, then only started one game the next two years. Then Green Bay – as they tend to do – thought the time was right.
Jordan Love proved last year that he could win in the playoffsGetty
GettyStroud has become Houston’s franchise QB after Deshaun Watson went to Cleveland[/caption]
Rodgers was traded, and the 2023 campaign was a career breakthrough, as Love threw for 4,159 yards and 32 TDs, then powered the Packers to an NFC Wild Card road blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys.
“We came in here with a mindset of we’re going to dominate,” Love said. “A lot of people were counting us out, and we didn’t care about that.”
A sprained MCL presented the 25-year-old Love with another NFL hurdle this season.
He completed 17-of-34 passes for 260 yards, two TDs and one pick during the Packers’ 34-29 season-opening defeat to Philadelphia in Brazil.
Since his late-game injury in Week 1, he’s 3-1 and has kept Green Bay in the hunt within the historically loaded NFC North.
Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams lead the current rookie class.
Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy are among the premier young QBs in the NFL’s post-Brady world.
Stroud vs Love on Sunday in Green Bay is a glimpse of football’s future.
Two teams that won a playoff game in 2023 and are fighting for more in ’24.
Two franchise QBs who could be battling each other for MVP votes and career-altering victories in the years to come.
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