The Green Bay Packers agreed to terms with former NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs, before releasing running back Aaron Jones, in a pair of moves that drew biting criticism even before free agency even officially gets underway.
“The Packers decided to pay Jacobs approximately $12 million instead of paying Aaron Jones approximately $11 million,” ESPN’s Seth Walder writes. “And that is a trade I would make zero days per week.”
Jones was certainly a known commodity in Green Bay, and in the Packers’ offense, even if he was coming off an injury-riddled 2023 campaign. Meanwhile, Josh Jacobs must also shrug off injury concerns ahead of the 2024 season.
Did Brian Gutekunst Pay for a Josh Jacobs in Decline?
Injury concerns aren’t the reason for Walder’s biting criticism of the Green Bay Packers’ Josh Jacobs signing.
“Jacobs is coming off a disastrous season in which he accrued just 3.5 yards per carry and minus-0.4 yards per carry over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats data,” Walder points out. “His total minus-86 rush yards over expectation was the sixth-worst mark by any running back in the league last year. Although part of that can be attributed to the Raiders’ lack of a consistent passing threat, that hindrance is somewhat accounted for in the expectation metric. If defenders are loading the box, that lowers the expectation.
“Jacobs was good in 2022 by any measure, including RYOE (plus-158 that year). But after last season it looks as if that was the outlier year, not 2023. Jacobs has accrued negative rush yards over expectation in three of the past four seasons. Dating back to 2018, Jones has never recorded a negative RYOE season.”
The Packers clearly view Jacobs as a more versatile weapon and explosive runner than Jones was, coming off a 2023 season in which Jones rushed for just 656 yards and two scores in 11 games.
How Josh Jacobs Can be Upgrade for Green Bay Packers
Josh Jacobs arrives into the Green Bay Packers backfield at age 26, and already with a rushing crown on his mantle.
If Jacobs can put a quad injury suffered in December 2023 behind him, and return to form, his best football might be in front of him. That’s especially true if Jacobs continues to be a dangerous weapon in the passing game because he’ll benefit from being ascending quarterback Jordan Love’s security blanket on screen passes and in the flat.
Brandon Jacobs’ explosiveness, as illustrated by his nine rushes of 10 yards or more and 28 forced missed tackles last season could prove to be a major asset for the Green Bay Packers offense in 2024.
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