For years, collectors endlessly speculated on what to do with their Jordan Love cards. Sitting behind then Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers after he was drafted during the strange 2020 COVID year, the first round pick threw only 50 combined passes in the 2021 and 2022 NFL seasons–simply not enough of a sample size to truly know what kind of player he was going to be. However, with Rodgers traded to the New York Jets, Love finally got his chance.
His 2023 season had some ups and downs through Week 10, and opinions were still split. Things then took a turn for the better for Love and the Packers. From Week 11 through Week 18, Love tallied 18 touchdown passes to just one interception, leading the Packers to six wins in those eight weeks, ending in a playoff birth for his first full season as a starter.
Love finished his season in the top 10 of many passing stats including passing touchdowns (2nd with 32), passing yards (7th with 4,159) and QBR (9th with 62.0). His first year as a starter turned out to be more impressive than those of Favre or Rodgers.
If you bought some of Jordan Love’s best rookie cards in 2020 and have still managed to hang on to them, you may be sitting on a future gold mine. Time will tell whether he truly follows in the legendary Packers quarterback lineage of Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, but he’s absolutely on the right track.
He’s also Green Bay’s unofficial Good Samaritan…
Omg Jordan Love helping my niece out of a snow drift…what can’t he do?
That’s my qb 💚🥹 pic.twitter.com/qv0p3Q5Jiz
— allie adames (@AllieKurowski) January 12, 2024
As for his rookie cards, Love was featured in every football set released by Panini in 2020. From Score to Select to Flawless, Love was everywhere. Card companies love quarterbacks and as a first round pick, he was a checklist mainstay. Some sets get all the love, so I’ve decided to highlight a few of the most underrated Jordan Love rookie cards from sets that can sometimes go unnoticed.
2020 Panini Elements Signature Gold
Metal cards are few and far between, and Panini Elements is a breath of fresh air every year with most other products only featuring paper or chrome cards. This set features on-card autographs and cards are numbered to correspond with various elements on the periodic table–Au for gold in this case.
Numbered to just 79, these are rare enough to be very desirable but not so hard to find that they’re outrageously expensive and impossible. You can usually spot one or two on eBay.
2020 Panini Phoenix Fire Burst
Of all the chrome-based sets that is part of the yearly Panini release schedule, Phoenix tends to fall by the wayside rather quickly, but some of its cards and parallels are top tier in terms of look and design. This particular Fire Burst parallel was only available in factory sets of 2020 Panini Phoenix. It may not hold the same value as a Prizm, Select or Optic card, but it has way more eye appeal and you can’t beat the price.
2020 Panini XR Luminous Endorsements Auto
Panini XR is one of the newer yearly staples and tends to be an earlier release on the calendar. This Luminous Endorsements insert autograph set features a silhouette image of Love in his Packers uniform on the left side of the card while an action photo from is Utah State days is behind the on-card signature.
A card that can feature an on-card auto, all the while showcasing a player in both their professional and college uniforms is an absolute win. Serial numbering on these is very limited and, at least for now, so is the price.
2020 Panini Contenders Autograph
Contenders is a classic set that has been around for decades, but, in recent years, Contenders has taken a back seat to the chrome-led card market. Nowadays, on-card autographs in Contenders come one per box and only feature the players that were at the rookie photo shoot that particular season. This makes it fairly difficult to pull the top players you are looking for, which makes these cards hold their value thanks to demand.
There are parallel versions that sell for a premium now that Love is making his mark in the league. Prices on all Contenders Love autos have picked up but the strong brand name is usually worth the investment if a player continues to perform at a high level.
2020 Panini Certified Freshman Fabric Rookie Patch Autograph
Much like Contenders, Certified is a set that has been around for quite some time, but it has never received the respect it deserves. The true rookie patch autograph in this set, named Freshman Fabric, often features very chunky multicolored patches and a sticker autograph. There are numerous serial numbered parallel versions of these to choose from in a variety of price ranges. First Off the Line versions of these cards like the pictured Teal Etch /15 can be huge chases.
2020 Panini Chronicles Prizm Black
Since it’s first release in 2012, Panini Prizm has been the chrome staple of all rookie cards. Prizm Black, however, is a set that only appears in Chronicles, a product that takes designs from many different Panini sets and puts them all together in a single release.
Prizm Black cards mirror the eventual look of the true Prizm release later in the year, but gives them a cleaner black look. Prizm Black cards are some of the nicest cards that collectors can look for in any Chronicles release. There are parallel versions of these, too, but the regular versions can still be had for a (Love) song.
Which Jordan Love cards up for auction at this moment are attracting the most attention? Check out the 100 most watched eBay auctions below. You can see all of his rookie cards that are listed and about to end here.
Related Stories:
Hottest 2020 NFL Rookie Card Auctions
Early Joe Burrow Cards Arrive as Draft Approaches
Panini Moving Forward with Instant Draft Night Rookie Cards
What’s Hot: COVID Not Stopping Collectors
Here Are the NFL Rookies You’ll See on 2020 Football Cards
Panini’s 2020 Immaculate Collection Collegiate Football Preview
100 Most Watched Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
Jonathan Taylor Rookie Cards Emerge as 2020 Draftee Makes His Mark
