Can more QB movement add a different element to Packers’ passing game?

Paul Bretl | 1/21/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — As Matt LaFleur and the Packers’ coaching staff dissects the offense this offseason in an effort to continue leveraging what went well and to correct what went wrong–particularly down the stretch–one potential area of opportunity for this unit lies with Jordan Love and getting him on the move more often.

Compared to the rest of the NFL, Love ranked 30th in rush attempts this season, according to PFF, out of 45 eligible quarterbacks. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of the top four quarterbacks in rush attempts this season–Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, and Josh Allen–are all playing on Championship weekend.

Love dealing with injuries during the first half of the season didn’t help his mobility and even hindered what he could do in the pocket and from under center. But even as we saw during the second half of the year, there is an opportunity for the Packers to add another dimension to their offense.

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“Every game’s a little bit different,” said Matt LaFleur on more quarterback movement. “It depends who you’re playing again in terms of how wide are the edges. I don’t want to say too much for all our opposition out there, but there’s some looks that I absolutely do not like to run keepers into just because a play-caller, to me, everything is about probability of a play working.

“Obviously, if you get the right look, the probability of that play working is going to be exponentially higher than if you get a bad look. The way some teams play with a lot of these shell looks, they’re not always great.”

Now, none of this is to say that Love should all of a sudden be carrying the ball 7-10 times per game or that he should be utilized in the same fashion as Hurts, Allen, or Daniels. Love’s best ability is his arm and talent as a passer, which is what LaFleur should want to leverage, but the movement element at the quarterback position can help open up opportunities through the air for Love to then exploit.

One of the stressors that comes for a defense when there is the threat of the quarterback getting outside of the pocket is that it gives the offense a numbers advantage. If the defense is defending against the pass, the offense has the advantage up front on a running play. If the defense brings a defender closer to the line of scrimmage to help out against the run, now the offense has the numbers advantage on the back end. If anything, that can tip the defense’s hand to a degree.

All it takes at the NFL level is a split-second of hesitation for a running lane to take shape or a passing window to open and by introducing quarterback movement to the offense, there’s now more for a defense to account for. Who has the ball–the quarterback or the running back? Is it a run or is it a pass? With the defense forced to defend the entire field, this can stress them horizontally, creating space for an offense to attack.

There is also something to be said for getting the quarterback on the move and outside of the pocket. For one, this can open throwing lanes and change the dynamic of the defense’s coverage responsibilities, with the play flowing to one side of the field versus the quarterback being static in the middle. This can also create extra time for longer developing routes to unfold.

“I think so,” said Jordan Love when asked about more quarterback movement, “especially when we run the ball the way we do, I think that’s a good counter to play off some of that stuff and play off some of the run game. Like I said before, I think we didn’t do as much of that stuff when I got back just because of the injury and movement, things like that, but I definitely think there’s an area we can dial some more of that stuff up. We have some good plays in; it’s just a matter of having the right time to dial those things up.”

The introduction of more quarterback movement into the Packers’ offense wouldn’t be done to change Love’s game and make him something he’s not, and no team is looking to take the ball out of Josh Jacobs’ hands. However, that element could help enhance the Packers’ passing game for the reasons mentioned, and if anything, gives the defense something else to prepare for.

Quite a few of the more successful offenses out there have quarterback movement paired with their passing game, and that component–the marrying of those two elements–is what can truly make things challenging for a defense with it becoming difficult to decipher what’s coming. And, generally speaking, the marrying of the run and the pass is one of the core principles of the LaFleur offense.

During the Packers’ final three games of the season, the offense grew a bit stale. The passing game, in particular, was disjointed out and out of sync. Getting Love on the move a few times per game is in no way a cure-all for that, but it could be another tool in this offense’s tool belt and it then becomes something else that defenses have to account for.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of time to take a deep dive into how are other teams running some of these plays and how are they being effective,” LaFleur said.

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