In the second installment of this recap series, the running backs for the Green Bay Packers are under the microscope this week. Led by both AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones, this group saw high usage again this season, even in a down year for the offense as a whole.
Plenty of warranted gripes from the fan base arose this year with Matt LaFleur’s lack of sustained involvement for his workhorses, and the offense likely struggled because of this. By failing to lean on two key skill players, more pressure fell on the right arm of Rodgers, and this year proved that that is not a slam dunk anymore.
AJ Dillon
2022 Stats – 186 carries, 770 yards, 7 rushing TDs, 4.1 YPC, 28 receptions, 206 yards
Playing second fiddle in this offense, Dillon could very easily be a starter for any other team in the league. Earning playing time alongside/behind Jones limits Dillon’s ceiling, but he certainly has been good at making the most of it.
Dillon set a career mark in rushing scores this past season, as his seven rushing TDs match the same amount he had across his first two seasons. He also earned one less carry than last season, so his role seems to be pretty concrete, at least in the eyes of LaFleur.
The 2022-23 NFL season marked the second year of no fumbles for Dillon, so he remains a trusted running back when it comes to ball security. His biggest area of growth has been his role in the passing game, having received the most targets (43) across his career. Even though those targets didn’t result in a career-best in receptions, it is still encouraging to see the trust Dillon has earned in the passing attack.
Aaron Jones
213 carries, 1,121 yards, 2 rushing TDs, 5.3 YPC, 59 receptions, 395 yards, 5 receiving TDs
Another year of Jones filling the lead-back role for Green Bay, but the stat sheet paints a bit of a confusing picture of how his season went.
While Jones did set a career mark in rushing yards and produced an average yard per carry north of five, he only found the end zone twice on the ground and coughed the ball up a career-worst five times. Even more, Jones was able to produce that kind of rushing performance in a year that saw him earn 200+ carries, but his rushing work was not the most of the year.
In the passing game, Jones set career marks in targets (72) and receptions, and his 5 receiving scores were the second-most of his career, after his 6 last season. In order to try and get both Dillon and Jones on the field at the same time, Jones typically would take the receiving role, hence why his numbers are so large in that category.
Patrick Taylor was the other running back to receiving work for Green Bay this past season, but he is nothing more than a trusted depth piece at this time. Stepping in mostly during mop-up duty, it would not be surprising to see Brian Gutekunst and the front office look to try and find another running back in the draft.
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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23
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