Josh Jacobs was already an active member of the passing game while with the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, with the Green Bay Packers, Jacobs wants to contribute even more to that facet of the game.
“I was talking to coach about that actually yesterday,” said Jacobs during his introductory press conference earlier this month, “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.”
During his first five seasons with the Raiders, Jacobs was targeted in the passing game a total of 249 times. This includes 69 targets in 2021, 61 targets in 2022, and 52 this past season, despite appearing in only 13 games. He has averaged 7.4 yards per catch but hasn’t found the end zone.
For some context around those figures, Jacobs’ 61 targets in 2022 ranked 11th among running backs. His 7.5 yards per catch that season ranked 20th. In 2021, Jacobs ranked sixth in targets and 47th in yards per catch.
So, although Jacobs has been a relatively big part of the Raiders’ passing game, as he told Matt LaFleur, there is an opportunity for growth in this capacity.
During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Aaron Jones, for reference, was targeted 74 times and 72 times, respectively. He also scored 11 receiving touchdowns in that span as well.
Not only in just the sheer number of targets is there an opportunity for Jacobs in the Packers’ passing game, but also in how he is utilized within it. With the Raiders, Jacobs saw relatively few snaps lined up in the slot or out wide compared to Jones.
According to PFF, just 2.9 percent of Jacobs’ career snaps came lined up in the slot. For Jones, that figure was 7.1 percent. Out wide, Jacobs played 6.6 percent of his total snaps from there, with Jones at 11.2 percent.
Within the LaFleur offense, not only is the running back’s ability to contribute to the passing game important, but being able to move around the formation is a must as well. Having this element can create mismatches and allow the offense to make things more challenging for a defense, by being able to run a variety of plays from just a few formations. This creates opportunities not only for Jacobs but for others in the offense as well.
Jacobs brings a very natural pass-catching ability to the running back position. Coming out of Alabama, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote in his pre-draft scouting report of Jacobs that he has the “ability to track the ball like a receiver.” This gives LaFleur added flexibility in what he asks Jacobs to do as a pass-catcher.
An important aspect of maximizing Jacobs’ contributions to the passing game is his durability throughout his career. Jacobs can provide that workhorse element to the backfield, regularly being on the field for all three downs and handling 20 to 25 touches in a game.
“I kinda had the opportunity to really speak to Tom Brady and all of these kinda guys that kinda guided me along with that,” said Jacobs about taking care of his body. “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.”
With the addition of Jacobs and the Packers bringing back AJ Dillon, they still are not done adding to the running back position and will address that need at some point in the draft. While, of course, what a running back does as a ball carrier matters, whoever the Packers add to this position group will have to be able to impact the game through the air as well. It’s just too important of an element within LaFleur’s offense.
