Georgia Bulldogs: Wherefore Art Thou, Jordan Love?

Photo Credit: Richard Hamm

Jordan Love is a redshirt sophomore from Glen Allen, VA.

Coming out of Deep Run High School in 2009, he was thought to be a sleeper candidate for the Bulldogs defense.

One of his most trumpeted attributes was his speed—he was clocked at having run a 4.4 forty—which made him an attractive option for  more than a dozen schools that recruiting year (including Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee).

Recruited by former Georgia defensive coordinator,  Willie Martinez, Love seemed tailor made for the type of scheme Georgia's secondary ran at that time—the soft zone—which was focused on minimizing deep ball plays. However, in truth, such coverage often left the secondary susceptible to getting beat short and mid-range plays made in front of them as they often played 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage.

Enter Love's speed.

Theoretically, if your corners and safeties have enough speed, they can make up ground quickly, even on the short and mid-range pass plays—making the chance for a big play less and less likely. Even more than that, Love was felt to have the mindset of a safety. He liked to play big, hit big, and punish guys whenever possible.

His three-star ranking at that time didn't seem to truly give you a picture of his possibilities at the next level.

Yet, here we sit two seasons later and all we've seen of Jordan Love is a series of unfortunate events—from an unfortunate injury in his first season to an unfortunate encounter with Athens police in his second (not to mention that whole being stolen from thing)—he hasn't truly had an opportunity to prove that he can do anything aside from being shown the wrong kind of love at Georgia.

On the positive side, though, he hasn't been resting on his laurels this spring and, even though he has yet to prove the value his skill-set would have in the 3-4, you have to be figuring on him having a chance to do so this year—if he can stay healthy. 

I have no expectations for Love beyond being a reserve at this point, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him become the type of player who knows how to make the most of the plays he's given.