A.J. Dillon's time with Packers will be remembered as a disappointment

Running back A.J. Dillon never lived up to his draft stock as a second-round pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2020.

In a sense it wasn't his fault. There's a strong case to be made that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst really reached for Dillon out of Boston College with pick No. 62. That said, it can't be argued that Dillon never matched his true potential in Green Bay over the past few seasons.

For a massive 247-pound running back, he never quite seemed to hit the hole hard enough and was too easy to take down, and because of his size, he never seemed explosive enough in the open field or as a pass catcher.

With Jones now with the Minnesota Vikings and the Packers having moved onto Josh Jacobs — a similar bruising-style running back with much more explosiveness, vision and upside — Dillon has become redundant for Green Bay. 

He was already coming into this offseason as an unrestricted free agent unlikely to come back with the Packers, but his fate was all but sealed with the signing of Jacobs.

That's not to say Dillon doesn't have options as a free agent and he'll certainly find a new home, but the fact remains that he'll likely never be more than a high-level backup running back in today's NFL.

That will make a good career, but overall, what a disappointment his four seasons in Green Bay were for the Packers. Dillon never quite became the "thunder" to Aaron Jones' "lightening", at least consistently, and because of that — he'll certainly go down as a missed pick for Gutekunst.

One of his rare misses, but a miss nonetheless.