Grading the 2023 Packers: Aaron Jones and Running Backs

Aaron Jones didn’t have a great year but he did have a dominant final five games to lead the charge for the Green Bay Packers.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For years, the Green Bay Packers raved about their running back duo of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. If Jones was the No. 1 back, then Dillon was 1-A and someone perfectly capable of carrying the load.

However, following the prolonged injury absences of Jones, Dillon failed to carry the load. It wasn’t until Jones returned for the stretch run that the running game finally got going and the offense reached peak efficiency.

That reality is reflected in Part 2 of our season-ending grades, which are based on a player’s impact relative to the salary cap.

Aaron Jones

2023 cap: $8,197,000. Position rank: 8th, according to OverTheCap.com.

Jones is different. In a sport in which salary equals status, Jones agreed to take a pay cut in 2023. It wasn’t the shifting around of money that is so commonplace. Rather, he simply took less money to remain with the Packers.

Talk about cementing your legendary status.

Most of the season was forgettable, though. In fact, with his 29th birthday approaching, it was fair to wonder if this would be it for Jones. In Week 1, Jones piled up 127 total yards in less than three quarters before injuring a hamstring at Chicago. From Game 2 at Atlanta through Game 7 against Minnesota, Jones had 117 total yards in three games and was inactive for three others.

His season turned from bad to worse when he suffered a knee injury against the Chargers on Nov. 19 that sent him to injured reserve. After a shaking-off-the-rust game against Tampa Bay, Jones embarked on one of the greatest individual stretches in franchise history with 127 rushing yards against Carolina, 120 against Minnesota, 111 against Chicago, 118 (with three touchdowns) against Dallas and 108 against San Francisco.

Jones became the first player in Packers history with four consecutive games of 110-plus rushing yards as well as the first with five consecutive games of 100-plus rushing yards.

Of 49 running backs with at least 100 carries, Jones ranked 10th with 3.16 yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus, and 20th with a missed-tackle rate of 15.5 percent, according to Sports Info Solutions. If you add the playoffs, Jones moves to sixth with 3.35 yards after contact.

Jones finished the regular season with 656 rushing yards and 889 total yards – a huge step back from his 1,121 rushing yards and 1,516 total yards in 2022. Look at those numbers in a vacuum, it might be fair to wonder if Jones will be back for 2024. His dominance down the stretch, however, makes that almost a formality, though something will have to be done with his $11.1 million base salary. He’ll turn 30 on Dec. 2.

Grade: B-minus.

AJ Dillon

2023 cap: $1,681,855. Position rank: 40th, according to OverTheCap.com.

While getting similar carries as the previous two seasons, Dillon went from 803 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 50 first downs and a 4.3-yard average in 2021, to 770 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 47 first downs and a 4.1 average in 2022, to 613 rushing yards, two touchdowns, 32 first downs and a 3.4 average in 2023.

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Of 49 running backs with at least 100 carries, Dillon ranked 37th with 2.69 yards after contact, according to PFF, and 47th with a missed-tackle rate of 6.7 percent, according to SIS. That just can’t be the case for such a massive, muscular man. On those few occasions he got into the open field, you wanted to see him plow through some scared-crapless defensive back. If it happened, it wasn’t often.

Worst: When Dillon was severely limited down the stretch with a broken thumb and out with a stinger, the offense was actually better.

Dillon is set to enter free agency. He is one of the all-time good guys and ambassadors for the Packers and Northeast Wisconsin. But the Packers probably are better off moving on unless they fail to adequately address the position in the draft and Dillon is unsigned into May.

Grade: D.

Emanuel Wilson

2023 cap: $650,000. Position rank: 104th, according to OverTheCap.com.

Wilson was a great story. Added in May after a short stint with the Broncos, the undrafted rookie led the NFL in preseason rushing yards to, ahem, run away with a roster spot. He played sparingly during the first half of the season. His big opportunity following Jones’ knee injury against the Chargers on Nov. 19 lasted just a couple plays as he suffered a shoulder injury that sent him to injured reserve.

During seven regular-season games, Wilson finished with 14 carries for 85 yards and four receptions for 23 yards. He had a career-high 31-yard run against the Rams and a career-high eight carries in the playoff win vs. Dallas. After breaking one tackle on those 14 regular-season carries, he broke two on 12 playoff runs. That will be a key going forward.

Grade: C.

Patrick Taylor

2023 cap: $365,556. Position rank: 123rd, according to OverTheCap.com.

Taylor was beaten out by Wilson in training camp, but it was Taylor who served as the unofficial No. 3 back at the start of the season. When Jones suffered a knee injury on Nov. 19, the Packers signed Taylor off New England’s practice squad. He played in 11 games and set career highs with 32 carries, 141 yards, a 4.4-yard average, 11 receptions and 49 receiving yards.

Taylor does everything at a credible level. He runs hard, he can catch and he can protect. According to SIS, he broke eight tackles on 32 carries, that 25.0 percent missed-tackle rate No. 1 on the team. He just doesn’t do anything at an above-average level. He showed some poor judgement with a couple runs that he failed to take out of bounds.

Grade: C-plus.

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