Former Green Bay Packers executive Andrew Brandt urged fans to "relax" over the surprising draft selection of Aaron Rodgers' heir apparent in Jordan Love.

The most stunning move of Thursday's first round saw the Packers trade up to land Utah State quarterback Love, a physically gifted but raw prospect who has drawn comparisons with Patrick Mahomes.

The selection was reminiscent of Green Bay picking a sliding Rodgers in 2005 when they had future Hall of Famer Brett Favre entrenched as the starter, a position he would hold onto for the next three years.

Favre initially bristled at the idea of being a mentor to Rodgers, and there is a fear the current incumbent could react to Love's selection with similar frostiness, particularly as the Packers passed on getting him help at receiver in the first round.

However, Brandt - who was with the Packers when the team drafted Rodgers - understands why his old franchise opted for Love.

"It's deja vu -15 years ago I was there and we had the exact same situation," he told Stats Perform.

"We had a quarterback [Favre], who was 35 years old, in his prime, Hall of Fame quarterback, franchise player and yet we took a quarterback [Rodgers] and here they are again.

"The difference is of course that back in 2005, the numbers came to us and we were sitting there and Aaron Rodgers fell to us. This time, the Packers traded up a few spots to go get this player Jordan Love and, pardon the pun, they loved him."

The selection of Love has caused quite a stir, yet Brandt referred to one of Rodgers' own famous phrases in response to that furore.

He added: "This is something where people are going, 'What the heck? And Rodgers? Don't they want to win now?'”

"I guess what I'm trying to tell people is relax. Number one.

"Number two, they will get help for Rodgers. And number three, they have to secure the future.

"The Packers obviously felt that this was a player that was their top quarterback prospect and they could not get him later in the draft, there's no way.

"So they went and did it and, yes, it does not help them this year, it may not help them next year, it may not help them for quite a while. But I feel like, if they feel like this is the guy, why not get him and let him learn from Aaron?

"Now, in Aaron's case he's sat in the bullpen for three years, that seems like an extraordinarily long time and I don't know if that will happen.

"Jordan Love won't be the quarterback this year, but after that you just don't know. Football moves so much faster than it did 15 years ago."