Packer Central

Packers Training Camp Preview: Running Backs

The Green Bay Packers will open training camp on July 22 with a new-look backfield featuring 2022 All-Pro Josh Jacobs and 2024 third-round draft pick MarShawn Lloyd.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers rookie RB MarShawn Lloyd
Green Bay Packers rookie RB MarShawn Lloyd / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Jones carried the Green Bay Packers into last year’s NFL playoffs. Can Josh Jacobs carry the Packers to a Super Bowl?

When the Packers begin training camp on July 22, a new-look backfield will be a focal point. At the start of free agency, the Packers released Jones and signed Jacobs. Then, during the 2024 NFL Draft, they used a third-round pick on MarShawn Lloyd. With the return of AJ Dillon and Emanuel Wilson, the Packers believe they’ve got the backfield depth to complement what could be a prolific passing game.

Here is a closer look in Part 2 of our training camp preview.

Packers Running Backs Depth Chart

Josh Jacobs: A first-round pick by the Raiders, Jacobs rushed for 5,545 yards and caught 197 passes in five seasons. He rushed for 1,150 yards as a rookie in 2019, was a Pro Bowler with 1,065 rushing yards in 2020 and was an All-Pro with an NFL-high 1,653 rushing yards and 2,053 total yards in 2022. He’s gone over 1,100 total yards all five years. Last season, Jacobs was unable to overcome the Raiders’ litany of problems and settled for career-worst totals of 805 rushing yards, 3.5 yards per carry and 4.1 yards per touch. He did match his unwelcomed career high of three fumbles.

AJ Dillon: The Packers used a second-round pick on Dillon in 2020 in hopes of drafting Derrick Henry 2.0. Not so much. His yards per carry fell from 5.3 as a rookie to 4.3 in 2021, 4.1 in 2022 and 3.4 in 2023. Dillon is one of the strongest running backs in the NFL and yet somehow is one of the worst at breaking tackles. Of 49 running backs with at least 100 carries in 2023, Dillon ranked 37th with 2.69 yards after contact, according to PFF, and 47th in broken-tackle rate, according to Sports Info Solutions. However, between 2020 and 2023, 43 running backs have at least 400 carries. Dillon ranks third in success rate.

MarShawn Lloyd: Among all running backs in this year’s draft class with at least 100 rushing attempts, Lloyd was second in yards per carry and first in yards per reception. After two seasons at South Carolina, Lloyd transferred to USC for his final season. He rushed for 820 yards (7.1 average) and nine touchdowns and caught 13 passes for 232 yards (17.8 average). At 5-foot-8 3/4 and 220 pounds, he’s short but definitely not small. With excellent testing numbers (4.46 in the 40, 25 reps on the 225-pound bench press), it’s little wonder why he ranked among the national leaders with 3.97 yards after contact per carry.

Emanuel Wilson: Wilson made the squad as an undrafted free agent last year. In limited action, he carried 14 times for 85 yards, a 31-yard run against the Rams boosting his season average to 6.1 yards per carry. He broke only one tackle during the regular season but two in 12 carries in the playoffs. If preseason football truly matters, watch out. He not only led the NFL with 223 rushing yards in the three games but with 11 missed tackles.

Ellis Merriweather: Merriweather spent the final couple months of the season on Green Bay’s practice squad. His build gives off some James Starks vibes. At Massachusetts, he rushed for 1,138 yards (5.2 average) and caught 22 passes in 2021 and added 575 rushing yards (3.8 average) and eight receptions in 2022. During that big-time junior season, he posted seven 100-yard games and had 218 consecutive carries without a fumble.

Jarveon Howard: The Packers gave Howard a $10,000 signing bonus to lure him as an undrafted free agent. At Alcorn State in 2022, he was the SWAC Newcomer of the Year with a career-high 1,273 rushing yards. In 2023, he rushed for 764 yards (same 5.0 average as in 2022) and set a career high with 31 receptions. Combined, he forced 113 missed tackles out of 443 touches.

Biggest Strength: Josh Jacobs

Jacobs obviously didn’t perform up to his usual standard last year, but playing under the franchise tag with a bad head coach (Josh McDaniels, before he was fired) and a bad quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo and fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell) conspired against him.

Jacobs is motivated to show that his 2022 season wasn’t a fluke. That he’s an elite back. That he’s worthy of being more than a one-year rental. And to taste playoff success.

“When I judge running backs or just players in general, it’s like, ‘OK, yeah, you can be good, but are you good when it matters? When it matters the most?’ In the biggest moments, in the biggest games, that’s where you leave your mark.

“Being a guy that has a lot of history and especially with the Raiders program, in the top three in almost every category since I’ve been there, it doesn’t really mean nothing because we didn’t win. Being able to leave a legacy is something that I think about now, being older. Playing playoff football and obviously trying to get a ring is the only thing that’s really on my mind.”

Jacobs isn’t as dynamic as Jones, but his physical style might make him a bigger factor in those late-season home games.

Biggest Question: New And Improved?

According to Pro Football Reference, 183 running backs in NFL history have had at least 1,100 rushing attempts in their career. Former Packers star Aaron Jones ranks fourth all-time with 5.05 yards per rushing attempt. New Packers running back Josh Jacobs is 73rd with 4.25 yards per carry.

When the Packers absolutely needed it, Jones reeled off a streak of five consecutive 100-yard rushing games (including both playoff games). That’s the longest streak in franchise history, and it helped carry the Packers to the postseason and beyond.

Last season, 49 running backs had at least 100 rushes. Jones ranked No. 1 in success rate, which is defined as gaining at least 40 percent of the required yards on first down, at least half of the remaining yards on second down and moving the chains on third and fourth down. Jacobs was 34th. Even stretching it out over two years to include Jacobs’ rushing-championship season, Jones was No. 1 and Jacobs was No. 9.

In a staggering statistic, Jones had runs of 10-plus yards on 15 of his 143 carries while Jacobs had nine on his 233 carries.

It will be fascinating to chart the seasons of Jacobs, who turned 26 in February, and Jones, who will turn 30 in December. Jacobs is considerably younger than Jones but also has more career touches. Will playing with Jordan Love and a potentially prolific passing game make him an elite runner once again?

Biggest Battle: AJ Dillon vs. MarShawn Lloyd

AJ Dillon is coming off a dismal fourth season. The Packers didn’t hit their stride offensively until Jones was healthy and Dillon was sidelined by a thumb injury and stinger.

So, there’s an opportunity for Lloyd to become the No. 2 runner at some point this season. The key will be the passing game, where Dillon is a proven commodity. While he didn’t make much happen after contact as a runner, he averaged 10.8 yards after the catch per catch on his 22 receptions. Had he caught enough passes to quality, he would have ranked second in the NFL in YAC per catch. As a pass protector, according to PFF, he’s allowed one sack in his career.

With 34 receptions in three seasons, Lloyd doesn’t have much of a track record in either phase. Neither did Dillon coming out of Boston College, so just because a player hasn’t done something doesn’t mean he can’t.

Ball security will be huge, too. Dillon fumbled three times in four seasons, including zero in exactly 200 touches last year. Lloyd fumbled eight times in three seasons and had the second-worst fumble rate of any back in the draft class in 2023. He’s got small hands, though general manager Brian Gutekunst said “analytics studies as far as hand size and fumbles doesn’t really track.”

Biggest Key: Josh Jacobs’ Power

The whole debate between Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones will be settled on this: Will Jacobs return to his tackle-breaking dominance?

Last season, Jacobs forced 28 missed tackles. With a broken tackle on 12.2 percent of his carries, Jacobs ranked 34th out of 49 backs with at least 100 carries, according to SIS. In 2022, when Jacobs won the rushing title, he forced 79 missed tackles – 23 more than any other player. With a broken tackle on 23.2 percent of his carries, Jacobs ranked No. 1 in the NFL – just ahead of Jones, who was second at 22.1 percent. 

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.