As one of two free agent splashes that the Green Bay Packers made this offseason, Josh Jacobs will take over as the lead back in what is expected to be a high-powered offense.
Naturally, Jacobs is going to draw comparisons to now former Packers running back Aaron Jones, who was released the same day Jacobs agreed to sign. Jones, as we know, is now in Minnesota.
However, while those comparisons may take place on the outside, Jacobs has no intention of trying to “replace” Jones. Instead, Jacobs’ mission is to carry on the standard that Jones has set but do it in his own way and where he fits in best within Matt LaFleur’s offense.
“I actually know Aaron,” said Jacobs when meeting with reporters in the Packers’ locker room on Friday. “I already know what kind of guy he is. Great dude and obviously he’s a legend around here just for what he’s done in his time that he’s been here. I don’t really consider myself coming in and replacing what he’s done. I just try to hold that standard.”
Jacobs led the NFL in rushing during the 2022 season on his way to being named an All-Pro. That season, Jacobs totaled 1,653 yards at 4.9 yards per carry with 12 rushing touchdowns.
Throughout his career, he has been difficult to bring down, much like Jones, but he does so with a bit more physicality. During that same 2022 season, Jacobs ranked 11th in average yards after contact and first in missed tackles forced with 90. Both of which contributed to the dynamic presence he brought to the Las Vegas offense, totaling the second-most runs of 10-plus yards.
“I think contact balance, man,” said Jacobs when asked about his ability to force missed tackles. “Understanding angles, understanding how the body moves, stuff like that, like if I’m coming at an angle, I look at the way guys shoulders … their momentum is taking ‘em and I kinda try to use it against em.
“I look at football kinda like chess, especially because the defender’s gotta react to me because I’m an offensive player and so I just kinda try to play mind games, whether I might run you over one play or make you miss the next. That’s kinda like what I get into.”
While Jacobs mentioned that as he learns the new offense and feels it out, he is excited to see where he fits best, the truth is, given his skill-set – along with the contract that the Packers have given him – he is going to have to ‘fit best’ everywhere, including in the passing game as a legitimate three down running back, which he has proven he can be.
Jacobs has been a big factor in the Raiders’ passing game throughout his career. In his first five NFL seasons, Jacobs has been targeted 249 times, including at least 60 times during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, in which he totaled nearly 800 receiving yards. For his career, Jacobs has caught 81 percent of his targets at 7.4 yards per catch.
For some context, the 61 targets Jacobs had in 2022 ranked 11th among running backs league wide. The 69 targets he had in 2021 ranked sixth. So although Jacobs has been a fairly big factor in the passing game, he sees more opportunity for himself in that capacity, which is what he told LaFleur when they first met.
“I was talking to coach about that actually yesterday,” said Jacobs, “and I was telling him I felt like I want to catch it a little bit more. I feel like I didn’t get to show that as much as I would have liked. So that definitely something in the conversations we had.”
With how active the Packers’ running backs are asked to be in the passing game, that opportunity for Jacobs to be more involved in that capacity should be there, and not only in potential targets, but in where he’s asked to line up.
Throughout his career, Jones has taken a greater amount to his snaps lined up in the slot or out wide compared to Jacobs. This ability for the running back to move around the formation is an important element of the LaFleur offense in achieving, what he calls, the illusion of complexity.
This, in short, keeps defenses off-balance and guessing by creating mismatches and a lack of substitution opportunities for the defense by running a variety of plays from just a few personnel groupings, along with concepts from early in the game building off each other, thus throwing different looks at a defense.
In order to accomplish this, versatility throughout the entire skill position group is important. There will likely be some adjustment for Jacobs with those different responsibilities, but he has proven to be a very natural pass-catcher, even more so than Jones, and could bring a greater skill set to the passing game.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, all of Jacobs’ numbers that I’ve referenced are not from the 2023 season, which, even by his own admission, was a down year for him. Jacobs would rush for just 805 yards at 3.5 yards per attempt and scored only six touchdowns.
As always, there are many factors in play, one of which starts with an offensive line that didn’t do Jacobs any favors. The Raiders also had issues at quarterback, which resulted in Jacobs facing a heavy-dose of loaded boxes, not to mention a lack of stability at head coach until Antonio Pierce took over.
“Obviously as a team,” said Jacobs when asked about his down year, “with the contract stuff and all of that coming in, it was a little different. We had a lot of new moving parts, we didn’t really know who the quarterback was going to be, we didn’t really know what our identity was going to be.
“So the first few games were kind of rough, and then we started to figure it out a little bit, but we couldn’t really stay consistent, and then towards the end of the year I end up having an injury. It was just one of them situations where you expected a lot out of that season, and it just didn’t go that way.”
In terms of bounce-back potential, the environment that Jacobs will be in with the Packers serves as a great opportunity for that to happen. Although depth and some competition is needed up front, this is an offensive line unit that was functioning as one of the best late last season. With Jordan Love at quarterback and the weapons the Packers have at receiver, Jacobs is going to face fewer loaded boxes as well.
With Jones, the Packers have had to be extremely mindful of his workload in order to give him the opportunity to be available for as much of the season as possible. To a degree, in today’s NFL, that’s the nature of the beast with the running back position—a reliable No. 2 option to provide some reprieve is a must.
But with that said, Jacobs has been that bell cow back throughout his career with the Raiders. Although he missed four games in 2023, Jacobs still ranked 16th in carries among running backs. In 2022 he ranked fourth in total snaps, along with being eighth in that category in 2021 and fourth in 2020.
“Man, you gotta take care of yourself,” said Jacobs on his durability. “That was the biggest adjustment i would say coming in from college to the pros is learning how to take care of yourself.
“I kinda had the opportunity to really speak to Tom Brady and all of these kinda guys that kinda guided me along with that, whether it’s nutrition or getting your body worked on on certain things as quickly as possible to be able to stay as fresh as possible and obviously playing running back, that’s a hard thing to do. It’s a constant job and it’s something that you gotta be very meticulous with.”
Naturally, all eyes were on Love and the Packers’ passing game late last season, but what really opened things up for the offense was pairing that with the dynamic run game that Jones provided.
A strong run game to lean on helps keep the offense out of obvious passing situations and ahead of the sticks, which sets up play-action and forces the defense to defend the entire field, taking some of the burden off the quarterback and pass-catchers.
Like Jacobs said, it’s his goal to provide that wherever and however is required, and he will do it in his own way, separate from Jones.
“The best thing to do is come in and put your head down and work,” added Jacobs. “Be a leader in the locker room with the guys and be a leader in the community. I think all of those things are important. So I think that’s the best start on the way to that track.”
