Packers Claim Record-Setting Running Back Off Waivers

The Green Bay Packers have claimed running back Israel Abanikanda off waivers, his agent, Shawn O’Gorman, told Packers On SI on Friday.

He was released by the 49ers on Thursday.

The Packers, who had interest in acquiring Abanikanda in 2023, have Pro Bowler Josh Jacobs atop the depth chart. One of the undrafted rookies, Amar Johnson, has missed the first few practices of training camp.

“You’re getting a humble, honest, mentally tough person,” Abanikanda said at the Scouting Combine. “It’s how I grew up with Nigerian parents, very educated, just someone you can rely on. I’m very responsible and dedicated to my work.”

Abanikanda was a fifth-round pick by the New York Jets in 2023 after an All-American career at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2022, he led the ACC with 1,431 rushing yards and led the nation with 20 rushing touchdowns and 21 total touchdowns.

Along the way, he rushed for a school-record 320 yards and an ACC-record-tying six touchdowns against Virginia Tech. The yardage total broke the mark previously held by Tony Dorsett and the touchdowns broke a Pitt record that had stood for more than 110 years.

The runner-up for ACC Player of the Year, Abanikanda measured 5-foot-10 1/8 and 216 pounds at the Scouting Combine. At Pitt’s pro day, he ran his 40 in 4.45 seconds, had a vertical jump of 41 inches and finished with a Relative Athletic Score of 9.63.

“I would say (breakaway speed is) probably my No. 1 thing I bring to the table as a running back, as well as ball security, breaking tackles and yards after contact,” he said at the Combine.

Abanikanda said he was born fast.

“They are getting a running back who can break tackles,” Abanikanda said after being drafted. “I can run in any type of scheme, outside zone, inside zone, under the center. I also can line up at slot and catch the ball and break away. A home-run runner with great ball security, as well.”

In college, he showed a nose for  the end zone.

“When I see green,” he said, “I know I'm going to score.”

Abanikanda has played in six games in his career, all as a rookie, carrying 22 times for 70 yards (3.2 average) and catching seven passes for 43 yards. The Jets released him late last season and he finished the season with the 49ers.

“We know Izzy has speed and is a big, strong, powerful back,” former Jets coach Robert Saleh said in 2023. “We will see what he is and what he has got. We're about to find out for sure. But he's going to provide more for special teams and then just being able to supplement some of the touches and just see what he's got. Fresh legs is a real thing and he's already got speed, so it'll be fun.”

He’s still only 22, so younger than many of the running backs in this year’s draft class.

His parents are from Nigeria. The Brooklyn native got hooked on football because of his older brother.

“He first started playing football in little league, and I started playing football by 4 years old,” he said. “From then on, it took off. Since Brooklyn was always basketball city, we wanted to be different than everybody else.”

As his father told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “He always wanted to go to the field with Michael. He wanted to be around the practices. He wanted to be at all the games. One day at a practice, someone gave him a ball. He took the ball home, ran around with it every day and even slept with it. For nearly all of his life, he was very interested in football. He fell in love with it at a young age watching his brother play.”

The Packers have six running backs on the roster, with Jacobs, last year’s backups Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks, last year’s third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd and undrafted rookies Johnson and Jalen White.