What to Learn From the Wild Card Games

After an exciting weekend of hires for the Green Bay Packers, it’s time to start thinking about roster changes for the offseason. The NFL is certainly a copycat league, and there was one common thread among the 8 teams who played this weekend: explosive Running Backs.

Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, LeSean McCoy, Leonard Fournette, Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman, Todd Gurley, Derrick Henry, and Kareem Hunt all suited up in Wildcard games. While drafting RBs high in the draft went out of vogue for most of the 2000s, the recent impact of backs in both the running and passing games has made brought about a Renaissance of the position.

I’m sure Green Bay is happy with the backfield of Ty Montgomery, Aaron Jones, and Jamaal Williams going into next year, but adding a true gamebreaker could take the offense back to the elite level. The continued development of Jones and Williams will be important, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a backfield mate taken with one of the Packers expected 12 picks. Players like Bryce Love (Stanford), Kerryon Johnson (Auburn), Derrius Guice (LSU), Nick Chubb and Sonny Michel (both from Georgia) offer early round options, and recent history indicates there will be impact players available late.

Adding depth and talent at Running Back will not be a major priority for new General Manager Brian Gutekunst this offseason. However, adding another dynamic player to an offense that has lacked playmakers would be a great idea. An idea that I will explore in future weeks as we start to turn an eye towards free agency and the draft.