Packers 2024 Report Card: Grading Josh Jacobs and Running Backs

The Green Bay Packers’ offense was led by the hard-charging running of Josh Jacobs, and Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks capably replaced MarShawn Lloyd.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) stiff-arms New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In 2024, new Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs carried the football 301 times. It was the sixth-most carries in franchise history and almost as many as Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon combined in 2023.

Jacobs was a sensational addition, changing the way the Packers did business on offense.

With that as a backdrop, here is Part 2 of our annual series of player report cards. As we’ve done for about 15 seasons, the grades are viewed through the lens of the salary cap. Why? Because the financial component is so critical to building a team. A championship team needs its most-expensive players to be among its best players, and it needs young, inexpensive players to rise to prominent roles.

All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

Josh Jacobs

2024 salary cap: $5,395,588. Position rank: 9th.

Releasing Aaron Jones and signing Josh Jacobs was a controversial decision at the start of free agency. Jones was a face-of-the-franchise type of player. He was more explosive than Jacobs, especially in 2023, when he helped carry the Packers to the playoffs.

As it turns out, general manager Brian Gutekunst nailed the decision.

Jones landed on his feet with the Vikings and was good. Jacobs, however, was great.

Jacobs finished sixth in the NFL with 1,329 rushing yards, joining Ahman Green, Jim Taylor and Dorsey Levens as the only 1,300-yard rushers in franchise history. Jacobs did a lot of the work on his own, with 1,039 yards coming after contact, according to PFF. Out of 46 running backs with at least 100 carries, Jacobs was third in missed tackles (60), tied for ninth in yards after contact per carry (3.1) and 12th in missed-tackle rate (19.9 percent), according to SIS.

Jacobs rushed for 15 touchdowns; his nine consecutive games with a touchdown run broke Paul Hornung’s franchise record.

None of that includes the playoff loss against the Eagles, when Jacobs broke 12 tackles and gained almost every inch of his 81 yards after contact.

The team followed Jacobs’ lead. Jacobs ran with toughness, and it rubbed off on the rest of the squad. Jacobs led the offense – everything ran through him – and he led in the locker room. Like Jones, he is a face-of-the-franchise type of player.

“That’s what I want my team to think,” Jacobs said of his 31-yard, highlight-reel run in the playoff loss. “That’s what I want my team to believe. I want the team to have that same type of belief in themselves. For me, I told them before the game, if you don’t feel like you got it, follow me. I’m going to lead the way. I’m going to give it what I have, tried to do that today.”

Jacobs was average, at best, in pass protection – particularly early in the season. He fumbled four times during the regular season and once in the playoffs. It was 4 yards and a cloud of dust rather than a series of explosive runs. While he was sixth in carries and 10-yard runs, he was 30th with 21.2 percent of his yardage coming on breakaways (15-plus yards).

That’s nitpicking, though. Jacobs played in every game. He was as effective in Game 1 as in Game 18. When he was needed 25 times, he delivered. Time and again, he turned a gain of 1 into a gain of 4. That’s all you can ask for.

Once upon a time, Jacobs was considered a potential one-year player because he’s due a $5.93 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the league-year. Consider it paid.

Grade: A-minus.

Emanuel Wilson

2024 salary cap: $915,000. Position rank: 95th.

Wilson went undrafted in 2023 and signed with the Packers after a cup of coffee in Denver. He’s become a quality backup.

With AJ Dillon on injured reserve all season, Wilson in 2024 played 263 snaps and carried 103 times for 502 yards and four touchdowns. Of 46 running backs with at least 100 carries, he ranked seventh with 4.9 yards per carry – about a half-yard better than Jacobs. He added 11 receptions for 48 yards (4.4 average) and another touchdown. He did not fumble.

Wilson was 14th with 3.0 yards after contact per carry and 20th with a missed-tackle rate of 16.5 percent. After playing 13 snaps in Games 12-14, he played 72 in Games 15-17. On five runs on third-and-1, he gained five first downs.

Grade: B-plus.

Chris Brooks

2024 salary cap: $813,333. Position rank: 104th.

Signed to the practice squad at the end of training camp, Brooks became a key role player in filling the void created by MarShawn Lloyd’s injuries.

Brooks played 184 snaps. He carried 36 times for 183 yards (5.1 average) and caught 11 passes for 69 yards (6.3 average). He did not fumble. According to SIS, Brooks matched Jacobs’ 3.1 yards after contact per carry. In 55 career carries including last year with the Dolphins, when he made the team as an undrafted free agent, he broke 12 tackles.

More than the numbers, he became a trusted pass protector. In the October victory over Houston, Brooks – with the team for about a month-and-a-half at that point – made three huge blocks in blitz protection on the winning drive.

Grade: B.

MarShawn Lloyd

2024 salary cap: $745,387. Position rank: 111th.

A third-round pick, the Packers envisioned Lloyd being the lightning to Jacobs’ thunder. He ranked among the national leaders in yards per carry during his final season at USC.

There’s an adage among scouts. “Injured players get injured.” There were injury concerns, which is why he fell into the third round despite being considered by some talent evaluators to be the best back in the draft. At South Carolina, he missed his true-freshman season of 2020 with a torn ACL. At South Carolina in 2021 and 2022 and USC at 2023, he played in 32 of 39 games.

The injuries followed him to Green Bay, starting with a hip injury that sidelined him for the start of full-team practices in training camp. Hamstring and ankle injuries followed. After about two months on injured reserve, he was ready to return to action but was stricken by appendicitis.

“You can’t make this stuff up,” coach Matt LaFleur said at the time.

He had a chance to return for the team’s end-of-season push but reinjured the hamstring, which shut him down for the rest of the season. In one game, he rushed six times for 15 yards and caught one pass for 3 yards.

Like the Packers did with Christian Watson and Eric Stokes last year, they sent Lloyd to see a specialist in Madison. It worked for Watson and Stokes; the Packers are hoping for the same results with Lloyd.

“Josh had a really good year, and I do think and I do know that I can help him a lot,” Lloyd said at the end of the season. “He had a lot of hits on his body. I’m there to help and he knows that. It’s going to be fun when I get out there on the field to play with him.”

The grade doesn’t reflect what Lloyd can become. It simply reflects reality.

Grade: F.

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