11 Days Until Training Camp: 11 Drops Too Many

The Green Bay Packers need Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon to be more reliable receivers than they were in 2022.

AJ Dillon (Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will be leaning heavily on their top running back tandem of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. They are the proven producers as the team transitions from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love at quarterback.

Jones and Dillon are a top tandem with one fatal flaw last season. Combined, they dropped 11 passes, according to Pro Football Focus. Jones dropped six, tied for most among running backs. Dillon dropped five, tied for fourth-most. Cutting down on that number will be critical when the Packers practice for the first time in training camp in 11 days.

Among 47 running backs targeted at least 25 times, Dillon’s drop rate of 15.2 percent was the second-highest while Jones’ 9.2 percent was 14th-highest.

Jones and Dillon are too talented to drop so many passes. Jones’ previous career worsts were four drops and 7.4 percent;

Due in part to his shoddy-handed running backs, Rodgers finished with the sixth-highest drop rate among 31 quarterbacks with at least 300 dropbacks. Dillon’s 2021 figures were one drop and 2.9 percent.

It’s going to be a challenge for Love, who will be a first-time starter throwing passes to a bunch of young receivers. He’ll need his prolific running backs to catch the ball better than they did last year.

Here are team-by-team running back drops from 2022.

Detroit: 13

Denver: 12

Green Bay: 11

L.A. Chargers: 10

Arizona: 9

N.Y. Jets: 9

Buffalo: 8

Tennessee: 8

Washington: 8

N.Y. Giants: 7

New England: 7

New Orleans: 7

Cincinnati: 6

Houston: 6

Minnesota: 6

Pittsburgh: 6

Tampa Bay: 6

Philadelphia: 5

Indianapolis: 5

Jacksonville: 5

Baltimore: 5

Miami: 5

Kansas City: 4

San Francisco: 4

Cleveland: 3

Dallas: 3

Chicago: 3

Las Vegas: 3

Seattle: 2

Carolina: 2

Atlanta: 1

L.A. Rams: 0

Countdown to Packers Training Camp

Our #Packers Training Camp Countdown has hit 12 days.

Looking at the top 10 in NFL history in touchdown passes, how did those teams do when they changed quarterbacks, like GB is doing with Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love?https://t.co/k5uvWwlEPW

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 14, 2023

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#Packers star Aaron Jones = Mr. Underrated, as @JacobWestendorf explains.https://t.co/12qXTIcg1r

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 14, 2023

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