All signs point to Josh Jacobs being back in the Packers’ lineup this weekend, and even the most skeptical view has to concede the same thing: his return should give Green Bay’s ground game a lift.
That may sound like faint praise, but it’s where the Packers are right now. Their rushing attack has been so poor this season that “bad” hardly captures it anymore.
The numbers are brutal. Green Bay sits 32nd in the league in total rushing yards with just 359.
What makes Jacobs matter is not some need for a miracle. The Packers don’t need him to turn into a one-man wrecking crew. They need him to do the basic job their other backs haven’t managed: meet expectation.
Rushing Yards Over Expected, or RYOE, is one of the more useful advanced stats in the sport because it measures how many yards a runner should be expected to gain based on the down, distance and field position. On that front, the Packers’ non-quarterback ballcarriers have been a mess. Their total sits at -116 RYOE.
MarShawn Lloyd accounts for -75 of that figure. Chris Brooks, meanwhile, leads the team with exactly one RYOE. That’s the kind of production that tells the story all by itself.
If those negative numbers disappeared, Green Bay’s rushing picture would change quickly. Wiping out the -116 RYOE would add 116 yards and move the Packers from last in the NFL to a tie for 29th. In other words, if the ballcarriers simply produced as expected and nothing more, the Packers would no longer own the worst running game in the league.
Jacobs should at least be able to clear that bar. He has built his career as an inside runner who hits the intended crease hard and on time. He isn’t known as a burner, and he isn’t the biggest back in the room, but his game has always been about getting where he’s supposed to go.
Even with Green Bay’s run blocking having been poor this year, Jacobs can still bring something the Packers have missed: reliability. There have been too many snaps this season where a Packers runner has not taken the proper lane or simply hasn’t gotten the routine yardage that was there to be had.
And it’s not just about the handoffs. Jacobs can also help as a receiver and in pass protection.
But even if you strip that away and judge him only as a runner, he ought to give the Packers something they’ve lacked all year: a back who can at least be net neutral on the ground. That alone would mark a meaningful upgrade.
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It also helps that Green Bays receiver room has had to absorb a major early-season hit, changing how the offense has distributed targets around Jordan Love. What looked like a race between established stars now has a different feel, because the Packers have gotten steady contributions from a tandem that is forcing a bigger debate about which team actually owns the deepest and most dangerous passing game in the division. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Jacobs Returns As Packers Face A Huge Week 7 Decision
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Matt LaFleur has already made clear he is willing to stand behind Jacobs, framing the situation in terms of second chances and what the Packers believe the running back can still mean on the field. The football side now shifts to Green Bays immediate plans, with Jacobs expected to be available as the Packers prepare for a major divisional test. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Add Receiver As Injuries Force Another Week 7 Shuffle
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The bigger change comes on the receiver side, where Skyy Moore has been placed on injured reserve after suffering an ankle sprain, meaning he will be out for several weeks. To help fill the opening, Green Bay added Coleman Owen from the Indianapolis Colts practice squad and put him on the 53-man roster, another reminder that the Packers are still looking for the right mix of availability and production as injuries keep forcing shuffles. [Read more 🡒]