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Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers looks to pass against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at Lambeau Field on October 13, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Jordan Love has yet to receive an MVP vote in his career, yet the Green Bay Packers quarterback is one of the top ten MVP candidates entering 2026, according to Seth Walder of ESPN. Love has not put it all together quite yet, but Walder points to his ranking third in QBR as a reason for him to be a legitimate candidate.

He finished behind Drake Maye, who finished second in MVP voting, and Brock Purdy, who played like an MVP when healthy, but missed half of the season. Walder notes that Love is already efficient on a down-in and down-out basis. If he can get the volume to match the efficiency, he is going to be an MVP candidate.

What Jordan Love Must Do To Win MVP in 2026

The reason Love does not have high volume numbers comes down to the offensive philosophy. Matt LeFleur comes from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, and that means a heavy dose of running the football to lead to the pass. It is not a surprise that Purdy and Love are the two most efficient quarterbacks despite limited MVP consideration to this point in their careers. They are aided by their playcallers.

Still, if LeFleur did lean into the pass more, the numbers could show at an MVP level. Even Purdy was in the conversation back in 2023 when he had to pass the ball more.

Josh Jacobs is currently going through a legal matter, and the offensive line is going through some changes. At the same time, Tucker Kraft appears to be ahead of schedule from his ACL injury. Also, the team has clearly defined receiver roles now that Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are gone. Between Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, and Matthew Golden, they have three receivers worth getting the ball to in specific scenarios.

All of this leads to the Packers passing the ball more and Love having strong numbers.

Jordan Love Has To Beat the Usual MVP Contenders

The issue is that even though Walder has him as a top ten candidate, he has him ninth on the list. It is hard to sneak past the big names such as Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes. Even last year, when the trio was not in the running, there were historic things being done by Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye. All five are poised for strong years, and all five were listed ahead of Love.

Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, and Joe Burrow were the other three listed ahead of Love. These names are like Love in that they are not yearly contenders for the award, but every once in a while, their name sneaks into the conversation. For Burrow, it is more about health, but the other two are on the fringe of being there but cannot get over the hump.

Love has a chance to prove that he can get past this tier and enter the elite group this season. The support around him is there; now he has to produce the numbers.