The Packers have had a really eventful week, have they? Starting with the bad, the team has released David Bahktiari and Aaron Jones. Those manoeuvres were rather predictable, but terrible nonetheless.
On the good side, the team signed safety Xavier McKinney and added a few more minor (but significant) pieces.
The most significant of these moves was the signing of Josh Jacobs. A somewhat shocking move for Packers and NFL fans around the world, it’s a fantastic and exciting one that advances the needle towards a brighter future for Green Bay. Jacobs is still young, having been drafted in 2019, and he has a lot of tremendous play ahead of him.
Here’s a comprehensive analysis of the move, as well as how Jacobs may become the focal point of Matt LaFleur’s offence in the future.
An Analysis of Josh Jacob’s Time With The Las Vegas Raiders
To put it mildly, Jacobs’ stint in Oakland/Las Vegas has been anything than smooth.
After graduating from Alabama, Jacobs was seen as the devout best running back coming out of the 2019 class. He had a promising rookie season, racking up 1150 yards and 7 TDs in a rebuilding year for the Gruden Raiders reboot.
Jacobs’s best year by far was in 2022, when he led the entire league in rushing and was a force to be reckoned with. He essentially outplayed newcomer Davante Adams in an offense supposedly built around Adams.
Josh then took a major step back last year for a few reasons. Number one was that Josh McDaniels was his head coach. Sure, Josh may have been in charge during Jacob’s interstellar 2022 campaign, but we’ve seen that when the going gets tough, McDaniels can struggle to adapt.
Number two is that the run blocking for the Raiders was pretty bad last year, especially when McDaniels was still coaching. The line improved a bit when Antonio Pierce took over as interim coach, but not enough to carry Jacobs back to superstardom by year’s end.
That ultimately played a role in Vegas not wanting to retain Jacobs, and voila, he’s now officially a Green Bay Packer.
How will Josh Jacobs fit into Matt LaFluer’s 2024 offence?
Matt LaFleur operates a West Coast system that supporters are accustomed to at this point. The Packers, who rely heavily on the Shanahan system, have run the ball effectively since Matt took over the team.
Jacob’s play style is really physical. He enjoys running people over, especially at high speeds. He isn’t particularly elusive, but he can break tackles like nobody’s business. He’s not a great pass catcher either, so he’ll need at least a strong line to run behind.
The Packers last year had a mediocre run-blocking unit. This played a part in AJ Dillon only averaging 3.4 yards per carry, although some of that had to do with Dillon’s lack of speed. Aaron Jones ran for 4.6 YPC, which is something of a down year for the NFC North veteran.
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