Herbert was also selected 6th in the 2020 draft and the 3rd QB picked. There is a reason for that, he was more NFL ready. He lead the Chargers to only 6 wins and 9 losses his first season, so not that spectacular.
Yes, Love was a first round pick in 2020 and has been in the system 3+ years, but I don't think he should be compared to guys like Burrows (#1 pick), Tua (#5) and Herbert (#6), just yet. Those 3 were from the same draft class, but considered a lot more NFL ready. Love needs some real game seasoning.
Now see I disagree there. I think having 4 NFL Training Camps, 3 preseasons and a few sprinkled live games + 38 College games +1 NFL start is very comparable to Herbert playing 43 contests at Oregon + 1 Covid preseason.
Imo. Love has had plenty of preparation for the NFL and I would say he’s more prepared for a NFL start than Herbert was 4 seasons ago coming in as a rookie.
Now what Jordans performance level will be is another matter and Herbert did have more experience at both WR and TE in 2020 than Love has in 2023. I think it’s a slight weapon favor in Herbert’s corner, but from a purely QB point of view, Love wins that prepared argument. Had we had this conversation in 2020 that’s another story.
Something else to consider on those ugly 9 losses that got their Coach canned. The Chargers ranked #9 in Offense and lost week 2 in OT and lost 6 of the next 7 games by 1 score. Then Herbert went on a 4 Win Run to finish up. It was their #23 ranked Defense that was more problematic. Herbert with a similar level (or slightly less) level of preparation performed outstanding with a good group of WR/TE/RB and Won ORoY #1
Really for myself I’m not quite as concerned with Love as I am questions about our inexperience at Receiver and TE weapons combined with Love. I’m nearly convinced if you put Love on a strong Offense (with sufficient prep) he’d perform league average early in.