The Green Bay Packers added Josh Jacobs this offseason where he will presumably take over as the team’s first-team running back after the team parted ways with Aaron Jones. And one of the biggest questions as he joins the team is his workload.
During his time with the Las Vegas Raiders, Josh Jacobs was an every-down back who got the vast majority of the carries on the team. With the Packers, it seems like he will get fewer carries as the team likes to rotate running backs to keep them fresh later in the season.
“Philosophically, no matter who the runner is, typically, we like to platoon those guys, whether it’s two guys or three guys,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said according to Pro Football Talk. “I just think it allows the running backs to stay fresh throughout the duration of the season. It’s a very violent position they play, and some of those hits are high-impact hits. . . . Then, when it gets down to the end of it, you’ve got to roll with whoever you feel gives you the best opportunity to win games. But I do think there’s a lot of benefit to having multiple runners in there. No. 1, I think it lengthens their careers.”
But if it comes down to it, LaFleur did indicate that he thinks Jacobs could handle a bigger workload.
“I think he is very capable of being a high-volume feature back, where he’s getting a bulk of the carries, but we will see how it plays out,” LaFleur said.
We’ll have to see how it all plays out, but it sounds like the team is happy to have him.
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