The Latest Josh Jacobs News Should Make MarShawn Lloyd Fantasy Football Owners Very Nervous

Last week, Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was placed on the commissioner's exempt list due to his misdemeanor charges for battery and criminal destruction of property. For fantasy purposes, the commissioner's exempt list is essentially an indefinite suspension; however, in the NFL, it's technically not a suspension at all because, while the player is not allowed to play or practice with their team, they still get paid.

There was an interesting development today, though. Jacobs has his court date moved up from November 17 to September 10. This reminds us a lot of what happened with Rashee Rice last season. The NFL will not act while active court proceedings are pending, so if Jacobs waited until November 17, he almost wouldn't be reinstated until after that date. However, with the court date being moved up, the NFL could make a ruling and hand down a suspension on or after September 10 if his case is settled.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs’ initial court appearance on misdemeanor charges has been moved up more than two months, per @RobDemovsky. Jacobs, who was charged with battery and criminal destruction of property, is now scheduled to appear on Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. at… pic.twitter.com/c10poPSd06
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2026

This is similar to what Rice did last season, moving his court date up into August, so he wouldn't likely be forced to sit on the commissioner's exempt list into the season. I have no inside information on this court case, but the most likely scenario here is that Jacobs is set to take a plea deal and wrap this case up on September 10.

Unless he is proven fully innocent in his court case, the NFL will likely hand down a suspension not long after everything is settled. We'd expect, based on the charges and the CBA, he will likely face up to a six-game suspension. The good news for him and fantasy owners is that there is precedent for the NFL counting games missed on the commissioner's exempt list against a suspension. Essentially, like getting time served on a jail sentence.

This case being moved up gives Jacobs a realistic opportunity to potentially return as early as October. However, we have to wait and see how things play out before we get ahead of ourselves. How that September 10 court case plays out could drastically change his outlook for the remainder of this season, but this should certainly give Jacobs' owners a glimmer of hope.

Fantasy Impact

RB Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers

With this news, we would now consider taking a flier on Jacobs in the late single-digit rounds. Just yesterday, he was essentially off our board completely unless he fell to Round 14 or later. If we were to make a prediction, we would say he's eligible to return by Week 7 unless that alleged video floating around comes out and is on the level of what we saw with Ray Rice.

There is also the issue of whether the Packers will want him back, or if MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks, or Kaleb Johnson can do enough during his absence to cut into his role once he returns. It would be a surprise if Jacobs lost his starting job, but it wouldn't shock us if he lost a portion of his workload.

RB MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay Packers

This should make fantasy owners who paid up and drafted MarShawn Lloyd as a top 30 running back extremely nervous. There is a real chance you paid up for a guy who will only be a starter for a portion of the season.

Even if Jacobs were to miss the entire season, we believed he was being overdrafted, but this could end up being a disaster. We wouldn't be drafting him as anything more than a low-end flex option at this point. He could still be very helpful for a while; nevertheless, it could be short-lived.

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