Packers Acquire An Additional QB
At the beginning of training camp, the Green Bay Packers will have a somewhat experienced quarterback in the lineup.
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin: Alex McGough’s chance to play for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL was ruined by an injured finger. He turned that opportunity into an MVP campaign, a USFL title, and now a chance to play with the Green Bay Packers.
After a tryout on Tuesday, McGough will be signed by the Packers, who have no backup quarterbacks with NFL experience and Jordan Love as the starting quarterback, a source told Packer Central.
Who the Packers cut to make room on the roster was not immediately known. According to a source, they did not anticipate releasing Danny Etling or rookie Sean
The Seattle Seahawks selected McGough (6-foot-3 3/8 and 214 pounds) in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. McGough had a record-breaking career at Florida International, ranking first with 65 touchdown passes and second with 9,084 passing yards.
In the 2018 preseason for Seattle, he passed for 476 yards and three touchdowns with an 87.8 passer rating; in the 2019 preseason for Jacksonville, he passed for 60 yards and no touchdowns with a 31.9 passer rating; and in the 2021 preseason for Seattle, he passed for 145 yards and one touchdown with a 61.0 passer rating. (Due to COVID, there was no preseason in 2020.)
Before the 2021 season, McGough was waived and joined the USFL. The Birmingham Stallions selected McGough sixth overall, teaming him alongside former Packers tight end Jace Sternberger.
Initially a backup, McGough earned his opportunity in the first game of the season after starting player J’Mar Smith dislocated his ring finger. In ten games, McGough finished third with 2,104 passing yards, sixth with 403 rushing yards, and first in the league in touchdown passes (20) and passer rating (108.1). He demonstrated some of his athletic prowess by adding five rushing touchdowns. The league record was set by the 25 touchdowns in all.
McGough took his game to another level in the postseason, accounting for nine total touchdowns and completing nearly 70 percent of his passes to help lead the Stallions to the league’s championship. “It’s been crazy. From starting as a freshman at college to getting cut and getting cut again,” McGough said before this year’s USFL Championship Game. “To being here and being hurt, not playing, then coming to the championship.” The Packers are in a transition period at quarterback. A year ago, they probably had the best quarterback room in football, with Aaron Rodgers the reigning back-to-back league MVP and 2020 first-round pick waiting in the wings.
A team rarely has two players with such high ceilings on the roster.
One year later, there has been a significant shift in the circumstances.
The starter from last year is now the backup. Love has only made 83 passes in the regular season with one start under his belt.
Less than that are the two players behind him on the roster. There have been no pass attempts made by Clifford or Etling in an NFL regular season game.
This year, Clifford was selected in the fifth round and started 33 games for Penn State. The previous preseason, Etling was in Green Bay. He didn’t play much; in three games, he completed 22 passes for 220 yards and added a 51-yard touchdown run.
In the unlikely scenario that Love missed time due to an injury, it’s hard to see the Packers being confident in either guy having to start. McGough hasn’t taken a normal NFL snap either, but he has at least experienced playing varsity football in a professional league.
McGough is 27 years old. He spent time on Seattle’s practice squad twice and in Houston’s, but he never played in a regular-season game.
Then-Jaguars coach Doug Marrone stated in 2019 that “the athleticism, mobility, is the first thing that stands out.” “His arm is quite attractive. After establishing control and performing well in the huddle, you look at accuracy, reads, and on-field performance.
Tyre Brady, a receiver for the Jaguars, said, “Once he gets outside the pocket, he’s dangerous.” When he uses his feet, he can make some amazing tosses.
McGough has a history in athletics. His mother played volleyball, and his father played football at the collegiate level. McGough was a teammate of his younger brother, an offensive lineman, at FIU. His mother’s brother, Kelly Goodburn, punted for Washington during the team’s 1991 Super Bowl victory. His mother’s mother played professional basketball.
“Ball” was McGough’s first word as a newborn. “He would say, ‘Ball, ball, ball,’ while standing in the crib,” his mother Raylee said to The Miami Herald. “He would always toss a ball.”
It shouldn’t be too difficult for him to understand the strategy that Clifford has been running and studying since May because of his delayed arrival in Green Bay.
In the Miami Herald article, McGough declared, “I’m a smart kid.” “I spend all day studying. Every day, I spend time there studying my playbook and watching movies.
