Packers 2025 offseason position preview: Running back

Paul Bretl | 2/4/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Packers roster with our lens focused on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.

Up next are the running backs. If you missed any of the previous previews, follow the link below.

Quarterback

Running back overview

On and off the field, the addition of Josh Jacobs came with a massive impact to this Packers team. Off the field, Jacobs quickly emerged as a leader on this young team. On the field, he was among the most productive backs and football.

We saw a shift in the Packers’ offense this season with Jacobs as the lead back. This became a much more run-centric unit with that success on the ground often being the catalyst for the overall success on offense that the Packers experienced. Jacobs provided the, at times, up-and-down Packers offense with stability–an element they could rely on and do so heavily with the workload that was put on Jacobs’ shoulders.

Jacobs finished the regular season rushing for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns. Among his position group, Jacobs ranked sixth in yards, fourth in touchdowns, fourth in missed tackles forced, and sixth in rushes of 10-plus yards. When needed, Emanuel Wilson averaged 4.9 yards per rush on 103 carries, and Chris Brooks filled a do-it-all role at the running back position, lining up all over the formation and really standing out as a blocker.

“He’s a stud, isn’t he,” Matt LaFleur said of Jacobs after the team’s win in Jacksonville. “He is a pro’s pro. I can’t say enough great things about him. We’re lucky to have a guy like that. the way he comes in and communicates and works and demands it of himself but demands it of others as well.”

When an offense has a steady run game to lean on, that has a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of that unit. Moving the ball on the ground often keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. In short down-and-distance situations, the entire playbook is open for the offense, which can create opportunities for the passing game, and the defense is on its heels, having to defend the entire field while being prepared for both the run and the pass.

“That opens up just a lot of things that we can get to,” said Tucker Kraft of Jacobs and the run game. “We can get to play pass, and we got shots off the runs that we have. So just opens the playbook up even more. And we don’t even have to get to those plays. We just still rely on our backs.”

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However, if there was something that was missing from the Packers’ run game–even with Jacobs’ impressive production–it was the homerun plays on the ground.

Jacobs would steadily pick up positive gains, averaging 4.4 yards per rush on the season, and oftentimes, turning a carry that could have been a loss or no gain into one where he picked up a few yards. But in terms of ripping off a huge gain, while Jacobs would rank 11th in rushes of 15-plus yards, that in part, is a product of how often he carried the ball. From an efficiency standpoint in that regard, Jacobs was 32nd among eligible running backs in breakaway rate.

In order to have more opportunities for those explosive runs, Jacobs needs more opportunities to hit the second level cleanly where we all know he has the ability to make defenders miss. However, of Jacobs’ 1,329 rushing yards, 1,039 of them came after contact. That’s nearly 80% of Jacobs total yards were manufactured after a defender contacted him.

For some context, the only backs with more yards after contact were Saquon Barkley (1,093) and Derrick Henry (1,137), but a stark difference is that both of those backs were around the 2,000 yard mark–or roughly 50-55% of their yards came after contact. Naturally, it’s a lot easier to rip off big runs when not dealing with defenders right away.

With Jacobs as the back, we saw a much more heavy dose of the gap running scheme this season rather than the traditional outside zone runs often associated with Matt LaFleur’s offense. The gap scheme suits Jacobs skill set well, but it was a change for the offensive line.

“I think coaching is, yeah, you have a philosophy of what you want to do and a foundation of what you want to do, but you’d better not be so stubborn that you just – this is what we’re going to do – if you’re pieces don’t necessarily match. I think that’s good coaching – putting your players in the best position possible,” Matt LaFleur said.

Heading into the new season, there is also the opportunity for Matt LaFleur to get the running backs more involved in the passing game. Out of 57 eligible running backs this past season, Jacobs would rank 27th in targets and no other Packers’ running back qualified because of a lack of opportunities.

Beyond the back being a checkdown option, if defenses have to be mindful of the running back in the passing game, it’s another element that they have to prepare for and it can help spread them out as they now have to defend more of the field.

Perhaps the return of MarShawn Lloyd can provide the Packers with a boost in these two areas. With the burst and juice he possesses, that homerun ability very much exists in his game. LaFleur has also spoken glowingly about what he can bring as a pass-catching option out of the backfield.

Before the end of the season, like Christian Watson and Eric Stokes did, Lloyd spent time at UW-Madison to get to the root of the soft tissue injuries he continued to run into during his rookie season.

“Josh had a really good year,” said Lloyd, “and I do think and I do know that I can help him a lot. He had a lot of hits on his body, I’m there to help and he knows that. It’s going to be fun when I get out there on the field to play with him.”

Heading into the 2025 season, an important factor is going to be LaFleur determining what type of running team the Packers want to be. Are they going to be a more shotgun-heavy, gap-scheme-reliant running team because that suits Jacobs well? Or will we see the pendulum swing back to more outside zone and more under-center play-action opportunities in an effort to get more out of that element?

After the offense faltered down the stretch, everything needs to be examined. As described above, a good running game should be a passing game’s best friend. So then why did the Packers struggle through the air late in the season and in game’s against the NFC’s best?

Positional need this offseason

The need here for the Packers is extremely low. Jacobs is entering Year 2 of a four-year deal. Lloyd is only entering his second NFL season as well. Wilson is an exclusive rights free agent, which means he cannot negotiate with other teams and will be brought back on a league minimum deal. Brooks, meanwhile, is still under contract for the 2025 season, according to Over the Cap.

Perhaps we see the Packers bring in an undrafted rookie to bolster the back-end competition at this position, but don’t expect the team to invest any meaningful salary cap space or draft capital into a running back.

Salary cap outlook

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are also ways to create more cap room if needed through a veteran roster cut or trade. In this instance, if a player’s cap hit–what’s on the salary cap books that season if the player is on the roster–is greater than their dead cap hit–which is money that’s already been paid to the player but hasn’t yet counted towards the salary cap and remains on the books even if that player is on a new team–then there will be cap space gained by the team if they moved on from that player.

Another avenue to create cap space is through a restructure–which we saw the Packers utilize heavily during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. In short, this is kicking the salary cap can down the road by taking cap charges from the current year, such as a portion of a player’s base salary, and converting it to a signing bonus so the cap hit can be pro-rated over the remaining life of the contract.

The benefit in the moment is that it creates cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year,” said Gutekunst. “We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

Free agents available

As I said, I wouldn’t expect any additions from the Packers, but to be thorough in our position preview, let’s take a look at who is out there with help from Over the Cap:

Aaron Jones
Rico Dowdle
Javonte Williams
Najee Harris
JK Dobbins
Kareem Hunt
Jaylen Warren
Alexander Mattison
Ameer Abdullah
Ty Johnson
Dare Ogunbowale
Kenneth Gainwell

What about the NFL draft?

Again, this is not a position I’d expect the Packers to add to, although this would be a good year to do so. The general consensus among draft analysts is that this year’s running back class is absolutely loaded, with their being not only a ton of talent, but a variety of wide-ranging skill sets available as well.

With help from PFF’s big board, here is a look at who makes up this year’s running back class:

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Omarion Hampton, UNC
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Devin Neal, Kansas
Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
RJ Harvey, UCF
DJ Giddens, Kansas State
Jarquez Hunter, Auburn
Kalel Mullings, Michigan
Damien Martinez, Miami
Trevor Etienne, Georgia
Kyle  Monangai, Rutgers
Marcus Yarns, Delaware

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