With free agency weeks away, there remains hope the Green Bay Packers can retain either Aaron Jones or Jamaal Williams as the team’s top running back (both would be a miracle).
Hope can be a wonderful thing but sometimes it has to give in to reality and the reality is it’s highly likely one is gone and it’s also very possible Green Bay loses both.
Should the latter happen, what does that mean for the Packers?
Simply put, A.J. Dillon becomes the starting running back with…someone behind him. Obviously the Packers would have to draft someone or find a bargain in free agency.
After spending much of the season on the COVID-19 list, Dillon made a splash in Week 16 against the Tennessee Titans and giving the Packers a glimpse of what the future could hold.
One game isn’t really enough to judge a player’s long-term ability, so how viable Dillon will be as RB1 is still up in the air but the Packers really have no other choice even if it was their plan. You don’t take a running back in the second round with the intent of letting him ride the bench for multiple years.
So barring Williams coming back on a team friendly deal (it’s fair to assume Jones is gone at this point), Dillon will be the team’s starting running back to start the 2021. Could the Packers find more diamonds in the rough like Jones and Williams in later rounds this April? Of course.
However it will be Dillon’s job to lose and it looks we will finally get to see those calves fully unleashed to wreak havoc on the NFL.
Packers rookie review: RB A.J. Dillon—Packers Wire
Developing in pass protection and becoming a better receiver are the two big things on the list for Dillon to become everything the Packers need him to be in Matt LaFleur’s offense. He will be given every chance to do so.
Packers grades: Make-or-break time looms for erratic punter JK Scott—PackersNews.com (subscription)
We unintentionally left Hunter Bradley out of our own special teams grades this year, but judging on 2020’s results get ready for punter and long snapper content this spring and summer.
Packers center Corey Linsley says ‘all signs pointing’ toward playing elsewhere in 2021–NFL.com
This one will hurt. Corey Linsley has been arguably the best center in football and Aaron Rodgers probably won’t be pleased having to adapt to a new starting center but that’s the business of football.
1972 Packers were a talented bunch—Packers.com
It’s well documented the Packers took a nosedive after the Lombardi years but the 1970s weren’t all bad in Green Bay.
Professional chef says the key to perfectly cooked steak is to use a toaster—Daily Mirror
Pop Steak Tart Tart anyone? (Insert the Jeb Bush “please clap” gif here).
