Unlocking three key insights on new Packers running back Josh Jacobs

The Green Bay Packers are set to sign running back Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract. The deal has $14.8 million in guarantees, just the year 1 money, including a $12.5 million signing bonus.

We have already talked about the corresponding Packers decision to move on from Aaron Jones, but there are still some questions to be answered about Jacobs himself.

And to tackle those questions, we invited Justin Churchill, who covers the Las Vegas Raiders (and a lot more) for A to Z Sports.

Why didn't the Raiders make a stronger effort to keep him?

Ultimately, they were outbid by Green Bay. Antonio Pierce was pretty firm on keeping him, but my understanding is this is where general manager Tom Telesco made the call to move on when Green Bay offered what they did. They believe in Zamir White after he did what he did last season when Jacobs was out, and felt it would just be best to move on from Jacobs.

He didn't produce as well in 2023 as he had in 2022. What happened?

The offensive line just wasn't very good in the run game. They added in Greg Van Roten last offseason, and while he was great in pass protection, he struggled mightily in the run game, creating no gaps. It also didn't help that Kolton Miller missed a few games, which he almost never does, and was banged up for most of the season. They played Thayer Munford, a seventh-round second-year tackle for a large part of the season as well. The run game got better when head coach Josh McDaniels was fired, but it never really turned into what it was in 2022. There's a thought that Jacobs holding out of training camp last season certainly didn't help his slow start.

Do you feel any physical decline for him, or have the Packers signed a player still in his prime?

The thing about Josh Jacobs' last year is how many carries he had. He ran the ball a lot, and it probably didn't help that a lot of those runs were for little to no yards. So, the beating he took doesn't feel as good. Even so, I still don't see Jacobs slowing down physically for at least another two years. He's durable, although he missed a few games last year. He played a game in 2022 with a bad injury that should have kept him sidelined for weeks, yet ran for almost 250 yards against the Seattle Seahawks, and finished with 300 scrimmage yards. The good thing about his new situation is that he will be in an offense with a quarterback having a competent pass game, so he may not be relied on as much. He should be fine.