Packers to Continue With Committee Approach at Running Back

During Matt LaFleur’s tenure as head coach of the Packers, the running back position has always had balance and rotation.

Led by Aaron Jones from LaFleur’s first season in 2019 through 2023, there has also been a solid second, and sometimes third option to take some of the burden off Jones, relieving him of carries during the season.

In 2019 it was Jamaal Williams and rookie Dexter Williams backing up Jones, with second-round pick A.J. Dillon taking the latter’s spot in 2020. Dillon would also be the eventual replacement for the former, who hit free agency in 2021.

There were times in most games, particularly in the regular season, when fans wondered where Jones had gone, whether LaFleur had forgotten about him, as multiple drives were led by Williams or Dillon.

This was part of the Packers’ plan to keep Jones healthy throughout the regular season, and ensure he still had plenty left in the tank by the time the playoffs arrived.

It worked, allowing him to stay productive not only for an entire season, but also as his career wore on and Jones got into his late twenties, usually a precarious age for running backs.

While other backs who enjoyed tremendous success as younger players fell by the wayside as they aged, such as Ezekiel Elliott and Todd Gurley, Jones has continued to be valuable, quality back even as he approaches age 30.

He may have been upset with how things ended in Green Bay, but their careful handling of Jones’ workload allowed him to continue working and earning, now in Minnesota, while other backs he came up with are long out of the league.

With Josh Jacobs brought in to replace Jones as the Packers’ lead back, there were questions over whether this cautious approach would continue, or if Jacobs would be anointed the true lead back and carry the load going forward.

Jones was an injury-prone back, which could in theory have been the primary reason for managing his workload. Jacobs on the other hand was the bellcow with the Raiders, so may be more suited to that role than his predecessor ever was.

But after Brian Gutekunst re-signed Dillon and drafted MarShawn Lloyd in the third round of the 2024 draft, it seemed to indicate the Packers would continue to mix up the backfield in an effort to keep their runners healthy and productive.

LaFleur essentially confirmed this at his latest media availability.

When asked about whether he wanted to keep a similar split of carries as he had done previously, or if Jacobs would be ‘the guy’, LaFleur said: “We’ll see. Philosophically, no matter who the runner is, we like to platoon those guys, whether it’s two guys or three guys.”

He continued: “I just think it allows the running backs to stay fresh throughout the duration of the season, it’s a very violent position they play and some of those hits are high impact hits.

“I do think there’s a lot of benefit to having multiple runners. I think it lengthens their careers.”

On Jacobs, LaFleur added: “I do think he’s very capable of being a high volume feature back where he’s getting the bulk of the carries, but we’ll see how it plays out.”

Green Bay’s stable of backs is built in a similar way to the 2020 backfield, which was probably the strongest of the LaFleur era. Back then, it was one ‘lightning’ back in Jones, backed up by two ‘thunder’ runners in Williams and Dillon.

This year, there are two power backs in Jacobs and Dillon, although calling Jacobs simply a power back may be doing him a disservice. Lloyd adds the explosive change of pace element, but this time it will come from the bench, rather than being the primary setting.

Gutekunst rebuilt the running back room this offseason, once again giving LaFleur options and depth to get him through a long, grueling season which will hopefully end in February.

The names may have changed, but do not expect a vastly different approach to the management of the workload of Green Bay’s backs.