Packers Draft By Position: Green Bay Could Use Running Back Help

This is the third in a nine-part series previewing the NFL Draft and the Green Bay Packers’ needs at each position.

Part 1: Offensive Line

The Green Bay Packers aren't big on surprises.

They do most things by the book. They rarely make a splash. And they’re typically one of the more predictable teams in the NFL.

Green Bay threw the entire football world a curveball, though, at the start of free agency when it made the stunning move of signing free agent running back Josh Jacobs. The Packers followed that up by releasing standout running back Aaron Jones after the two sides couldn't agree on a restructured contract.

In just 24 hours, Green Bay shook up its running back room with a pair of moves few could have seen coming — even their head coach.

“It kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the running back swap during the NFL’s Annual Meeting last month. “There were some other things in play, obviously with Aaron Jones, and I didn't quite know how everything was going to go. It just happened really fast.”

Now, LaFleur and the Packers will cross their fingers and hope that Jacobs gives them the kind of production — on and off the field — that Jones did.

“Obviously, we asked (Jones) to take a pay cut, and as we went through that process, we kind of realized it wasn’t going to probably come to fruition,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters at the NFL’s Annual Meeting. “Obviously, we had to do what’s in the best interest of the football team and that’s what we did.”

Green Bay also made the somewhat surprising move of resigning veteran A.J. Dillon, meaning Jacobs and Dillon will likely be the Packers’ 1-2 punch in 2024.

With 11 draft picks, though, Green Bay will certainly take one — and perhaps two — running backs when the NFL Draft commences on April 25.

When the dust from the draft settles, the Packers’ running back room figures to look much different than it did in 2023.

Jacobs becomes Green Bay’s bellcow after five highly productive seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders.

Jacobs, 26, ran for 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022 and was a first-team all-Pro selection that year. Jacobs was also an All-Pro selection in 2020 when he ran for 1,065 yards and 12 touchdowns.

In five NFL seasons, Jacobs has 5,545 rushing yards and 46 rushing touchdowns. He also has 197 receptions for 1,448 yards (7.4 yards per catch).

Since Jacobs entered the NFL in 2019, only Derrick Henry has more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns than Jacobs.

Jacobs had his 2023 season cut short due to a quadriceps injury, but has missed just 10 games over his first five seasons.

Las Vegas placed the franchise tag on Jacobs after his monstrous 2022 season, but opted not to do so this offseason.

“Obviously, he’s a very proven back,” Gutekunst said of Jacobs. “He runs with a lot of violence, explosiveness. He’s a bigger back, a durable back for the most part. He’s really a guy who can flourish in all phases as a runner, as a blocker, and certainly as a pass catcher. Really excited, not only to have the player, but the person added to our football team.”

In losing Jones, though, Green Bay said goodbye to one of its best players — and people — in recent memory.

Jones ranks third in team history with 5,940 rushing yards, behind only Ahman Green (8,322) and Jim Taylor (8,207). Jones is also fourth in Packers history with 45 rushing TDs.

Jones is the only player in NFL history to post 5,000-plus rushing yards (5,940), 45-plus rushing TDs (45), an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.04), 250-plus receptions (272), 2,000-plus receiving yards (2,076) and 15-plus receiving TDs (18) in his first seven seasons in the league.

In addition, he was a tremendous locker room leader and was the Packers’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year on multiple occasions.

“I think Aaron’s definitely proved himself over his career in the National Football League that he can handle a lot of things, not only in the run game but in the pass game, as well, and does a great job in protection and route running and has shown the ability to be a big-time playmaker,” LaFleur said of Jones last season. “What’s even more impressive, I would say, is how he handles himself on a daily basis. He is such a great model for what you want your team to be about. He is all of that. He backs up anything he says with what he does.

“His actions are very, very powerful. Like I said, great role model for all these younger players of what it truly means to be a pro and just his approach and how he embraces all our players and tries to help them along the way. Can’t say enough great things about him, just the man he is, the player he is, the son he is, the father he is. He’s definitely, I’ll throw it out there, he’s one of my favorites.”

Jones missed seven games in 2023, though, and had just 298 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns after Week 15.

Then over the next five weeks, Jones ripped off five consecutive 100-yard games and the Packers went 4-1 in that stretch. Jones ran for 584 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry in his final five games and was a huge reason Green Bay made a surprising run to the NFC divisional playoffs.

“Yeah, really tough,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, the business of football never stops. Those things, any player that’s committed to it the way he has for our football team, just the way he was in our locker room and obviously a very productive player.

“It’s always tough but I think over time, you get used to it. But that’s just kind of the business of football. But we wish him well. He couldn’t have represented us any better in his time with us. But very tough.”

Green Bay has five of the first 91 picks in the draft and could certainly use one of those selections on a running back.

It’s a down year for backs, and it could be the third round before one is selected.

Jonathon Brooks of Texas, Trey Benson of Florida State, Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright and Oregon’s Bucky Irving are largely regarded as the top running backs in the draft and are likely to go in Rounds 3 and 4.

Others such as Michigan’s Blake Corum, Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy, Notre Dame’s Audric Estime, Kentucky’s Ray Davis and Arizona’s Michael Wiley could all fall somewhere between Rounds 4 and 6.

“I think it's an incredibly important position,” Gutekunst said of running backs earlier this offseason. “It's been in the headlines a lot because people talking about, it's being devalued. I don't think the position is devalued.

“I think obviously contractually things are different because of the injury rate there, but I don't believe you can have just one. I think you have to have two.”

RUNNING BACK RANKINGS

1. Jonathon Brooks, Texas, 6-0, 207; 2. Trey Benson, Florida State, 6-1, 223; 3. Braelon Allen, Wisconsin, 6-2, 245; 4. Jaylen Wright, Tennessee, 5-11, 210; 5. Bucky Irving, Oregon, 5-10, 195; 6. Blake Corum, Michigan, 5-8, 213; 7. Tyrone Tracy, Purdue, 6-1, 210; 8. Audric Estime, Notre Dame, 5-11, 227; 9. Ray Davis, Kentucky, 5-10, 216; 10. Michael Wiley, Arizona, 6-0, 215.