After rushing for only 3.5 yards per attempt while playing with quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell and Brian Hoyer in 2023, Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs thinks playing with an ascending quarterback like Jordan Love will help him rebound in a big way in 2024.
More focus on Love and the Packers passing game and less on Jacobs in the run game could propel the bounce back year for the former Raider.
“It’s just so special when you got a guy like Jordan Love back there, and you can’t really just load the box every play, and you make defenses decide what they want to stop,” Jacobs recently said in an interview with NFL Network. “I think that’s going to be the biggest help for me this year.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Jacobs faced eight or more defenders in the box on 21.5 percent of rushing attempts last season. That was actually lower than both Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, who were both over 23 percent. It’s worth noting that the percentage of boxes with eight or more defenders dropped significantly during the second half of the season when Love and the passing game finally caught fire.
In 2022, when Jones rushed for over 1,100 yards, the Packers running back faced eight or more defenders on only 10.8 percent of rushing attempts. Part of this was the threat of Aaron Rodgers the quarterback; another was Rodgers’ decision-making at the line of scrimmage and unwillingness to run into bad defensive fronts.
Jacobs faced eight or more on 20.5 percent of rushes while winning the rushing title in 2022, so there’s more to the equation than the percentage of eight-man boxes.
But it’s no secret; teams defend top quarterbacks differently. In neutral situations, more attention is paid to coverage and less on defending the run — providing opportunity for running backs to take advantage of lighter boxes. The run-stuffing linebacker that might be on the field against an inexperienced or ineffective quarterback could be a lighter, coverage-focused defensive back against a great quarterback. In the run game, every little advantage matters.
Jacobs dealt with a contract issue during the offseason and was injured for parts of the regular season while also dealing with a revolving door at quarterback for a dysfunctional offense in 2023. He’s under contract for multiple seasons, healthy entering training camp and set up for a big role within one of the most stable offenses — led by a veteran playcaller and ascending quarterback — in 2024.
Love was part of the draw of Green Bay for Jacobs. He wanted to play with a big-time quarterback who could make his job easier. If Love continues ascending, Jacobs should have a real opportunity to look more like 2022 and less like 2023 during the 2024 season.
