GREEN BAY, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- Chances are, you either love or hate what the Packers did Thursday night. Literally.

Aaron Rodgers is 36. He wants to play several more years. The Packers made the NFC Championship Game last season and conventional wisdom was they needed immediate help at receiver and linebacker.

Yet on Thursday night, the Packers traded up to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love with the 26th pick.

He's likely to sit for awhile behind Rodgers. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst  said he had to "balance immediate and long term" with the selection.

One thing you have to say about Gutekunst. He stuck to his convictions. Knowing it likely wouldn't be a popular pick in the short-term, he did what he thought was best in the long term interests of the Packers.

Gutekunst shied away from anointing Love as Rodgers' successor("these things take time"), but you don't spend a first round pick on a guy you don't eventually think will be a starter. "We felt pretty strongly about him," Gutekunst admitted. "This is not something we anticipated."

So here we are. Since 1992, the Packers have been blessed at the quarterback position. Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Yet the trade for Favre, the selection of Rodgers and the awkward transition to Rodgers all were unpopular at the time.

Quarterbacks help shape a GM's legacy. Brett Favre helped get Ron Wolf to the Hall of Fame. Aaron Rodgers helped Ted Thompson win a Super Bowl. He may not want to admit it, but Brian Gutekunst is betting big on Jordan Love.

Tough, unpopular moves are what good GM's are paid to do. Get enough right and you last. Get them wrong, you're gone.

Trust your gut. Believe in your guy no matter what anyone says.

Can you name anyone besides Aaron Rodgers who the Packers drafted in 2005?

Jordan Love will determine how history views this year's Packers draft.

The Packers hope that history repeats itself and that Jordan Love can continue the Packers legacy of quarterback moves that were greeted with skepticism turning out great.