2020 NFL Draft Profile: San Jose State QB Josh Love

Will Spartans quarterback Josh Love get drafted?

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What makes Love an NFL quarterback?

The 2019 Mountain West offensive player of the year was San Jose State quarterback Josh Love, but the big question is if that success will lead to him being drafted.

Love is not getting a lot of chatter about being one of the quarterbacks drafted. Some of that has to do with playing for a not so great Spartans team during his career. Yet, that does not always matter for the NFL who will find talent anywhere.

However, despite Love playing well in San Jose State he is an at best a fringe player who will be drafted. In multiple draft rankings, Love is not ranked in the top 450 and very few have him as a top 25 player just as a quarterback. Odds are he will not get drafted but Love has the talent and will stick on as a free agent with some NFL team.

However, Pro Football Focus sees Love as a sleeper.

SJSU quarterback Josh Love makes PFF's Top 10 Sleeper list for the NFL Draft:#SJSU #SpartanUp #SanJoseStatehttps://t.co/DZUuSmoQBl — Inside The Spartans (@InsideSpartans) March 25, 2020

PFF’s Take: The league is likely not going to look favorably upon the 6-foot, 200-pound Love as a prospect, but I’m a believer. Go watch him light up Arkansas for over 400 yards this past season and you may come away one as well. He has improved drastically over the course of his career at San Jose State and down the stretch this season was playing some of the best football of any quarterback in the country. What I love about him is his fearlessness in the pocket. He converted pressure to sacks at the lowest rate in the country last season (9.0%) while also earning a 68.6 passing grade while under pressure (ninth-best in the country).

Throws like this are why scouts will take some sort of shot on Love in the NFL.

For more of what Love’s senior season looked like below is a compilation of his senior season.

Strengths

He improved each and every year at San Jose State and that clearly showed as he was named the Mountain West’s best quarterback and offensive player of the year. So, he is doing something right.

He hits receivers in stride and has a strong enough arm and he also sits in the pocket and followed through on passes and absorb hits.

Love also is good on the move and is still accurate when he throws on the move. Plus, he is able to throw a rocket or have touch which is needed when making a variety of throws that will be needed at the NFL level.

Weakness

He comes from San Jose State and never had a winning record as a starting quarterback, but in 2019 he nearly willed the Spartans to bowl eligibility but came up just short.

His lack of facing high-level competition and only having just played one complete season is a bit concerning from a health standpoint. However, he was the opening day starter in three-straight years with the Spartans.

While he is able to make throws downfield he sometimes underthrows wide receivers just a bit which forces wide receivers to adjust on the fly to make the catch.

Draft Prediction

There is very little evidence that Love will get drafted but teams are always quarterback hungry and he very likely will get taken as an undrafted rookie. The lack of in-person workouts and pro days also are hurting his chances of being drafted.