With the free agency weeks away, there is still hope that the Green Bay Packers can keep Aaron Jones or Jamaal Williams as the team’s best running back (both would be a miracle).
Hope can be a wonderful thing, but sometimes it has to yield to reality and the reality is that it is very likely that one is gone and it is also very possible that Green Bay will lose both.
If so, what does this mean for Packers?
Simply put, AJ Dillon becomes the start of the race back with … someone behind him. Obviously, the Packers would have to recruit someone or find a bargain at the free agency.
After spending much of the season on the COVID-19 list, Dillon was successful in Week 16 against the Tennessee Titans and gave the Packers a glimpse of what the future could bring.
A game is not really enough to judge a player’s long-term ability, so how viable Dillon will be, since RB1 is still in the air, but the Packers really have no other choice, even if it was their plan. You don’t race back in the second round with the intention of letting you ride on the bench for several years.
So, unless Williams comes back on a friendly deal with the team (it’s fair to assume that Jones is gone at this point), Dillon will be the team starting to run back to start 2021. The Packers could find more rough diamonds like Jones and Williams in later rounds in April? It is clear.
However, it will be Dillon’s job to lose and it looks like we will finally see these calves totally loose to wreak havoc in the NFL.
Packers rookie rating: RB AJ Dillon – Packers Wire
Developing pass protection and becoming a better receiver are the two important things on the list for Dillon to become everything the Packers need him to be in Matt LaFleur’s attack. He will have every chance of doing so.
Packer notes: decisive time is approaching for erratic punter JK Scott—PackersNews.com (subscription)
We inadvertently left Hunter Bradley out of the ratings of our special teams this year, but judging by the 2020 results, get ready for the longest and most betting content this spring and summer.
Corey Linsley, Packers head, says ‘all signs pointing’ to play elsewhere in 2021–NFL.com
This will hurt. Corey Linsley has arguably been the best center in football and Aaron Rodgers probably won’t be satisfied with having to adapt to a new starting center, but that’s the football business.
The 1972 Packers were a talented group – Packers.com
It is well documented that the Packers plummeted after the Lombardi years, but the 1970s were not so bad in Green Bay.
The professional chef says the key to a perfectly cooked steak is using a toaster – Daily Mirror
Does anyone want Pop Steak Tart Tart? (Insert Jeb Bush’s “please applaud” gif here).