Josh Jacobs is Reigniting The Green Bay Packers' Ground Game

In his first two games with the Green Bay Packers, Josh Jacobs is showing he can be the engine to their offense when needed.

When Josh Jacobs came to the Green Bay Packers over the offseason, he certainly saw the vision. 

An ascending Packers team headlined by star quarterback Jordan Love, a full complement of young and exciting wideouts that were all coming off a shocking upset as the first 7-seed to win a playoff game. Fitting right in with what the Packers have already built offensively was obviously a big lure for why Jacobs came to Green Bay after earning one rushing title and making one playoff appearance over his five seasons with the Raiders.

Two weeks into the season, the Packers are currently without Love as he recovers from a sprained MCL. Now, Jacobs is taking on a familiar role of taking on a high-volume workload judging by his performance in their Week 2 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Jacobs is currently tied for first with 48 carries, is tied for third in total touches (50) and ranks third with 235 rushing yards. Of course, Jacobs’ 151 rushing yards on 32 carries is inflating those counting stats, especially after 73.1 percent of Packers plays against Indy were designed run plays, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Yet, the gameplan that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff concocted in the Packers’ first win of the 2024 season was two-fold.

For as much as it was designed to shield backup QB Malik Willis and to best optimize him so soon into his Packers tenure, it still would not have been possible without Jacobs being the workhorse to propel Green Bay’s rushing attack. After all, Jacobs is the first Packers running back to have over 30 carries in a game since Ryan Grant did so in 2008, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. It was just the third time Jacobs achieved that feat in his career as well.

The early signs are there for how Jacobs has reignited the Packers’ ground game that largely faltered before the team made their late season surge to the playoffs last year.

Jacobs has done his damage getting through the gaps supplied by the Packers’ offensive line. His 208 rushing yards after contact ranks first in the NFL, according to NFL Pro. Being as explosive and sturdy with the ball has been remarkable, especially when that’s come at the expense of attacking defenders. It has been key to Jacobs rattling off six runs of 10 yards and four runs of 15 yards or more through his first two games.

The steady diet of touches Jacobs is seeing inside the tackles has been key to the Packers’ success on the ground. You don’t get 261 rushing yards in a single game — the most by a Packers team in the LaFelur era — without a good offensive line pushing defensive tackles and edge rushers like they are football sleds. Add in Jayden Reed’s versatility and explosiveness playing in the backfield and that really set the tone for the field day that Green Bay had running the ball.

Yet it doesn’t all work without someone like Jacobs who is very capable of shouldering a big burden to be the engine to his team’s offense. 

There were big shoes to fill for Jacobs as his arrival combined with the departure of the beloved Aaron Jones, who ranks third on the Packers’ all-time rushing list. The messiness that necessitated Jones’ exit that stemmed from a reported 50 percent pay cut before the start of free agency signaled a changing of the guard in the Packers’ RB room. AJ Dillon’s drastic season-ending injury that forced him on IR at roster cutdowns added to the different flavor we’d see from Packers ball carriers going into the year. 

While Marshawn Lloyd battles durability issues in his first NFL season after heading to IR this week and Emmanuel Wilson steadily waits for extended opportunities, the onus is on Jacobs to continue playing at the standard he’s set for himself so far. Love’s impending return, whenever that is, will keep opposing teams guessing when it comes to drawing up gameplans to stop the Packers’ offensive attack.

Going into Week 3, Jacobs faces a tougher task against a winless Tennessee Titans defense that has kept opposing running backs in check so far. Whether that holds and who will be under center for the Packers remains to be seen, but Jacobs will keep on running. No matter how many times his number will be called.