Packers 2025 Season Report Card: Grading Running Backs

The Green Bay Packers suffered an across-the-board decline in backfield production in 2025. We take a closer look in Part 2 of our season report cards.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs fights for yards against the Bears. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last season, the Green Bay Packers’ primary trio of running backs, Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks, combined for 2,473 total yards. This season, they combined for 2,003.

In the second of a series of Packers season report cards, here are our grades of the running backs. As always, our grades are done on a salary-cap curve because the financial component is such an important part of the game.

Note: All salary-cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Advanced stats are from Pro Football Focus, Next Gen Stats and Sports Info Solutions.

Josh Jacobs

2025 cap charge of $11.325 million ranked second at the position.

During his debut season with the team in 2024, Jacobs in 17 games carried 301 times for 1,329 yards (4.4 average) and 15 touchdowns. He forced 66 missed tackles and averaged 3.45 yards after contact.

In 15 games in 2025, Jacobs carried 234 times for 929 yards (4.0 average) and 13 touchdowns. He forced 44 missed tackles and averaged 3.06 yards per carry. Jacobs in 2024 had more yards after contact (1,039) than he had total rushing yards in 2025.

To meld those together, Jacobs in 2024 averaged one broken tackle for every 4.56 carries, had a 10-yard run on 11.0 percent of his carries, and gained 79.2 percent of his yards after contact. In 2025, he averaged one broken tackle for every 4.98 carries, had a 10-yard run on 9.8 percent of his carries and gained 77.2 percent of his yards after contact.

Now, how much of that is slippage from Jacobs, who will turn 28 next month, and how much of that is slippage from the offensive line? That the percentage of yards after contact was about the same, the guess is Jacobs is fine and the line let him down.

Due in part to a nagging knee injury, Jacobs went from sixth in rushing to 20th.

Jacobs was second on the team with 36 receptions. That incredible touchdown catch at Denver shows he was underutilized in that role. Of the 24 backs with at least 33 catches, he was the only one without a drop. He fumbled four times in 2024 and three times in 2025, including a killer one at Chicago.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) catches a touchdown pass agianst Denver Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

In 2025, only Colts star Jonathan Taylor, who finished third in rushing and first in rushing touchdowns, had a higher cap charge than Jacobs. In 2026, his cap number is set to rise to $14.54 million, which would rank fourth at the position.

With his talent and leadership, he is a lock to return in 2026. Besides, who would replace him?

“I take pride in it,” Jacobs said of being someone his teammates lean on, “just because I know we all depend and count on each other, but to know that in those biggest moments, if they looked at me and things like that, I take a lot of pride in that and I try to make them right more times than not.”

Grade: B-minus.

MarShawn Lloyd

2025 cap charge of $1.29 million ranked 57th at the position.

A third-round pick in 2024, Lloyd played in one game as a rookie and didn’t get on the field at all in 2025. To list all his maladies might break the Internet.

Lloyd was the fourth running back off the board and the 88th pick overall in 2024. Of the 20 running backs from that draft class who have played in a game, he ranks 18th with 15 rushing yards. Since the turn of the century, 72 running backs were drafted in the third round. Lloyd is last in rushing yards.

This will be the biggest offseason of his football life. It might come down to finding answers to stay healthy or finding a new career.

Grade: F-minus.

Emanuel Wilson

2025 cap charge of $1.03 million ranked 92nd at the position.

On the heels of rushing for 502 yards in 2024, Wilson rushed for 496 yards in 2025. Had he not lost so many yards that he was tackled at the Mall of America on one play against the Vikings, he would have had back-to-back 500-yard seasons. Ranking 92nd in cap charge and 45th in rushing yards is a good return on investment.

Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson carries the ball against the Vikings. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In proof that the problem was the line and not Josh Jacobs, Wilson’s average went from 4.9 yards in 2024 to 4.0 in 2025. He gained 77.0 percent of his yards after contact, which was almost identical to Jacobs.

“I always tell him, just trust your instincts,” said Jacobs, one of Wilson’s biggest supporters. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t a baller and just trust your instincts and when you make a decision, be decisive in that decision. You could tell he’s playing with that confidence, and confidence is a big thing in this league.”

Wilson in 2024 averaged 2.93 yards after contact, averaged a missed tackle for every 3.96 carries and had a 10-yard run rate of 12.6 percent. In 2025, Wilson averaged 3.06 yards after contact, forced a missed tackle on every 7.35 carries and had a 10-yard run rate of 9.6 percent.

Wilson will be a restricted free agent.

Grade: B.

Chris Brooks

2025 cap charge of $1.03 million ranked 92nd at the position.

The No. 3 back for most of the season, Brooks carried 27 times for 106 yards. As was the case with Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson, Brooks’ yards per carry tumbled from 5.1 in 2024 to 3.9 in 2025.

Generally, Brooks was in the game for pass protection, where he’s a brick wall more often than not. However, in Week 18 against the Vikings, he showed he’s a viable threat as a runner with 13 carries for 61 yards with three broken tackles and 42 yards after contact.

He will be a restricted free agent.

Grade: C.

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