Packers Need Running Back; Scouting Combine Offers Mixed Results

While there were some impressive workouts by the running backs at the Scouting Combine on Saturday, a few of the top prospects missed the mark.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are looking for a backup running back to potentially replace AJ Dillon and a long-term replacement for Aaron Jones. The running backs who competed at the Scouting Combine on Saturday offered so-so results.

Florida State’s Trey Benson was the big winner of the night. Benson (6-0 1/4, 216) ran his 40 in 4.39 seconds and has a RAS of 9.77.

What’s RAS? Relative Athletic Score is a 0-to-10 scoring system that takes into account a player’s height, weight, 40-yard time and other measureables. The Packers probably have their own system, but that amalgam of numbers has been important part of general manager Brian Gutekunst’s draft philosophy.

Getting back to Benson, Gutekunst said earlier in the week that he wants a power back to complement Jones, thrive in the cold and finish off games. Benson isn’t Dillon-big but he runs with the desired physicality. Now, the stopwatch shows a player capable of taking it to the house.

“When I get the ball, I'm thinking about scoring every time,” Benson said a day earlier at the Combine. “The first couple yards good, 2-yard gain, 3-yard gain, but, eventually, I’m going bust a 50-yarder.”

Benson suffered a torn ACL at Oregon in 2020. He transferred to Florida State for the final two seasons and rushed or 1,918 yards (6.1 average) and 23 touchdowns. He caught 20 passes for 227 yards in 2023.

The “ability to break tackles” is why he believes he’s the best back in the class.

“I feel like I've never been hulked on the field (and) I have getaway speed,” he said.

Another big back missed the mark. Notre Dame’s Audric Estime has size (5-foot-11 3/8, 221 pounds) and was explosive in the jumps. But his 4.71 speed in the 40 – slowest among this year’s backs – will take him off at least some team boards unless he can knock some time off that mark at pro day. His RAS was a quality 8.13.

One thing that doesn’t show up in RAS is hand size, but the Packers would love his 10 1/4-inch hands to grip the ball on a cold January day at Lambeau Field.

Estime, who rushed for 1,341 yards (6.4 average) and 18 touchdowns in 2023, compared his game to that of Adrian Peterson.

“He runs like he has to pay his bills, and that’s how I run,” he said.

Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen (6-1, 235) checked in 10 pounds lighter than his listed playing weight but performed poorly in the jumps and didn’t do any of the running events; he’ll save those for the Badgers’ pro day. He didn’t participate in enough events to post a RAS.

Allen is cut from the same bolt of cloth as Dillon, who the Packers drafted in the second round in 2020 in hopes of getting a back comparable to Titans star Derrick Henry.

Allen, who rushed for almost 3,500 yards (5.9 average) in three seasons and caught 28 passes in 2023, says he’s talked to Henry “all the time” to get ready.

“He’s been great for me, especially throughout this past year,” Allen said. “I study him a lot and try to emulate his game a little bit.”

Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright (5-10 1/2, 210) isn’t a big back but he’s not exactly small. One of the most well-rounded prospects in the draft with a glitzy 7.4-yard average and 22 catches in 2023, he ran his 40 in 4.38 seconds and also excelled in the jump to post a RAS of 9.82.

Louisville’s Isaac Guerendo, Wright and Benson were the three backs to break 4.40.

Texas’ Jonathon Brooks (6-0, 216) didn’t test due to last year’s torn ACL. He said he should be ready well in advance of the start of training camp.

Top Running Back Prospect Crushing ACL Comeback

Michigan’s Blake Corum, who one top scout called the most overrated offensive skill-position player in the draft, is probably too short for Green Bay’s tastes (5-7 3/4, 205), and his 4.53 speed was underwhelming. His RAS was 5.80. He was a powerful workhorse for the Wolverines with about 500 carries, 2,700 rushing yards and 45 rushing touchdowns the past two seasons.

Bucky Irving (5-9, 192) was the biggest disappointment of the top backs. He measured only 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, which was the expectation. However, while he compared his game to the likes of the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs, Irving posted a decent 4.56 in the 40 and performed horribly in the jumps. His RAS was 2.28.

Guerendo, who started his career at Wisconsin and finished at Louisville, measured 6-foot and 221 pounds. With a 4.33 in the 40 and a 41.5-inch vertical jump, he was one of the clear-cut winners of Saturday’s workouts. His 40 is tied for the fifth-fastest by a running back in Combine history.

He’s got the size the Packers are looking for. How about the production? Buried on the bench at UW for four years, he rushed for 810 yards (6.1 average) and caught 22 passes in 2023. He capped his career by rushing for 161 yards and posting 203 total yards in the bowl game against USC.

Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy was another winner. He measured 5-foot-11 1/8 and 209 pounds, then ranked among the best in the 40 (4.48), vertical (40) and broad jump (10 feet, 4 inches). His RAS was 9.75. He’s got an intriguing skill-set, with most of his career spent at receiver before switching to running back and rushing for 716 yards (6.3 average) in 2023.

“Really, my versatility is like the main thing I want to show them, that I’m not just a running back,” he told Indiana TV station WLFI at the Combine. “I’m not just a receiver. I’m a little bit of both. I can catch the ball out of the backfield. I can run good routes, but I can also go in between the tackles.”

USC’s Mar’Shawn Lloyd measured 5-foot-8 3/4 and 220 pounds and ran his 40 in 4.48. That’s a nice blend of size (weight-wise, anyway) and athleticism. He posted an 8.92 RAS. Lloyd rushed for 820 yards (7.1 average) in his one season at USC.

For Combine Safeties, One Top Prospect Probably Off Board