With the 2024 NFL Combine having just wrapped up, the Green Bay Packers have begun to showcase which positions they are most interested in for upgrades this offseason. While the NFL offseason period starts up in around a week, Green Bay has laid out some signs about where they need to upgrade moving forward.

Teams are allowed to make a certain amount of formal visits with prospects at the combine, allowing top team personnel to meet with prospects to get a better idea of who they are as a person and a player. Each team runs their meetings differently, but all meetings contribute to helping teams build out their draft plans.

A position of need for Green Bay this offseason is running back, as both Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon could be wearing different colors next year. With Dillon hitting free agency and Jones taking up a large chunk of the salary cap, the RB room could look starkly different in 2024.

Offseason reports point to Dillon heading elsewhere to factor into a RB1 discussion, while ongoing pay-cut negotiations for Jones point to the former UTEP back remaining as the lead back in Titletown. But another option will need to be added to the room, and it looks like the Packers are doing their homework.

Reports of combine visits trickle in, but with no official tracker, it’s tough to track everything. There have been a few visits that the Packers have reportedly made so far, with three of them dedicated to the running back position.

Wisconsin’s Bralon Allen, Texas’ Jonathon Brooks, and Notre Dame’s Audric Estime have been linked to Green Bay, and the team has held meetings with each of these prospects.

Braelon Allen

The home-town kid could remain in the land of Kwik Trips and Culvers if the Packers select Braelon Allen, who hails from Fond du Lac. Racking up 646 total touches across his three-year career with the Badgers, Allen enters the league with a ton of experience but a lot of miles on his tires.

Having been a part of a run-heavy scheme in his first two years at Wisconsin, Allen was their bell-cow back, racking up over 1,200 rushing yards and 11+ TDs in each of his first two seasons. Having fallen 16 yards short of his third consecutive 1K rushing yard season in his junior campaign, Allen became more involved in the passing game, catching a career-best 28 balls in his final season in Madison.

To fill Dillon’s downhill role, a guy like Allen would be a superb fit, as he is a big-bodied runner who seeks out contact but has demonstrated the hands to factor into the passing game.

Jonathon Brooks

There is no bonafide RB1 in this year’s class, so it is anyone’s guess who fills that role. Texas’ Jonathon Brooks is one of the top options this year, with many analysts seeing him as the top option.

Having bid his time behind top back Bijan Robinson for the Longhorns, Brooks stepped into the starting role this year, finishing the year with over 1,400 total yards and 11 total touchdowns. Only 238 carries in his collegiate career makes Brooks a back with a lot of tread left on the tires, which will be appealing to teams.

Brooks is less of a Dillon replacement and more of a Jones clone, as their skill sets are similar in their dual abilities. Brooks would likely require a third-round pick, something that Green Bay likely would be comfortable in spending.

Audric Estime

The final back that Green Bay has met with is Notre Dame’s Audric Estime, a big-bodied back who is surprisingly fluid for his size. Sitting just under six feet and 227 pounds, Estime ranked high in the vertical and broad jumps at the combine, and he ran a 4.71 40-yard dash.

Game tape has Estime as a powerful runner that has the skills to become a two-down starter anywhere he lands. Not heavily utilized in the passing game (26 career receptions), Estime ran for 1,341 yards and 18 TDs last year, which put him at 12th and T-3rd overall in the country, respectively.

Of the three options, Brooks has the best shot to become a 3-down starter in the long run in the NFL, while both Allen and Estime are more of the bigger body backs that can help near the goal line or in short yardage. While that isn’t to say that Allen and Estime are not worthy of being drafted by Green Bay, it just means that their skills are a little more limited.

It will be interesting to see what direction the Packers go at RB, but their research into the incoming rookies shows that they are serious about making upgrades.

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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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