Deep to Weak: Potential New Backfield Has 15 Career Carries

In the NFL, depth can be a fleeting term. So, in a big midseason game at San Francisco, the Packers might have to lean on Dexter Williams and Tyler Ervin.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Jones might miss a third consecutive game with a calf injury.

Jamaal Williams, deemed a “high-risk” contact, has been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.

AJ Dillon, having tested positive, also is on the COVID-reserve list.

In the NFL, depth can be a fleeting term. The Green Bay Packers could be without their three top running backs for Thursday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Packers have one of the best backfields in the NFL, with the proven one-two punch of Jones and Williams and the second-round pick Dillon. Combined, they have 86.5 percent of the team’s rushing yards.

Instead, Green Bay could go into the game with Dexter Williams and Tyler Ervin as the lone running backs. A sixth-round pick last year, Williams played in only four games with 10 snaps on offense and 38 on special teams as a rookie. He carried five times for 11 yards. Ervin, a running back by trade and listed as such on the roster, is mostly a receiver these days. Of his 108 snaps, only four have been in the backfield.

“I think as a competitor you’re always excited about the challenges,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on Tuesday. “You’d love having your guys in there at full strength, for sure, but there is that fun challenge of going in there without some of those guys and trying to find a way to win. I think that’s the beauty in this league, it’s ever-changing and there’s different challenges to be attacked every single week.”

With the addition of Dillon, Dexter Williams was the odd man out in training camp. It wasn’t only the acquisition of Dillon that kept Williams off the roster, though. He wasn’t good enough as a blocker or receiver to be the three-down back coveted by coach Matt LaFleur. Nonetheless, with Jones and Jamaal Williams headed to free agency at season’s end, the Packers wisely kept Dexter Williams on the practice squad. With the potential of the top three on the depth chart being out of action for Thursday, he might wind up making his first NFL start.

“I love Dex. Dex has a really good attitude,” Rodgers said. “It seems like he’s a little more settled this year and feeling more confident. I’m excited about him getting opportunities. He’s a really good kid who cares about it a lot. He’s going to be asked to do some things on Thursday.”

A fourth-round pick in 2016 by the Houston Texans who rescued the Packers’ special teams as a late-season addition in 2019, Ervin hasn’t started a game in his career, either. In fact, in three seasons with the Texans and a half-season with Jacksonville, Ervin had five carries and 14 receptions. Total. Now, for the first time in his career, the 27-year-old has a real role on an offense. He’s carried the ball four times and caught six passes in five games this season. He might eclipse those combined 10 touches against the 49ers.

“He can play receiver. He can be our fly-option guy. He can play in the backfield,” Rodgers said. “With those two guys in the protocol, we’re going to have to have him play an even bigger role this week to make sure we’re getting our best guys on the field.”

It will be fascinating to see how LaFleur adapts on offense without a proven runner. Can Dexter Williams carry the load and the offense soldier on with some semblance of normalcy? Or will LaFleur spread the field and let Rodgers go to work? And if that’s the approach, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh figures to blitz, blitz and blitz some more to test the protection skills of the new backfield.

“That’s what we have to work with,” LaFleur said. “Those guys work hard and they’ve been a part of our system now for over a year and they know what the expectations and the standards are.”

Of course, the 49ers have their own problems, with a roster obliterated by injuries.

“It’s pretty simple what we’re trying to do on offense,” Rodgers said. “It’s be explosive, find ways to get the ball to 17 (Davante Adams), get the ball to our guys in space. If, obviously, not having a couple backs, we’re going to have other guys with opportunities to fill those roles. I look forward to the challenge.”