Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post
GB is going from a 5yds/carry rb to a 4yds/carry rb. Jones never averaged less then 4.6/carry over a season. Jacobs has twice been under 4.0/carry (3.9 in 2020, 3.5 last year).
A lot of people are saying that they don't see much difference between Jones and Jacobs, but this is a significant one right there. I think a lot of fans still don't quite seem to get how special Jones was and sorta still is.

Aaron Jones has an extraordinary YPC average - eye-poppingly impressive. His YPC is 5.0. In the entire history of the NFL, of all running backs with 850+ carries, only 3 averaged more than Jones, and 2 of those 3 are named either Jim Brown or Mercury Morris.

He's one of only 3 players who have gained 5.25 YPC in 4 separate seasons, and the other 2 are 50's legends Brown and Joe Perry. For the sake of reference, Ahman Green and Jim Taylor each managed that only once for Green Bay. Marshall Faulk and Barry Sanders each did it 3 times, OJ Simpson did it twice, and Ladainian Tomlinson did it once.

That's the company that Aaron Jones is in. For several years now, I've just been baffled by how many Packer fans (and the league as a whole) do not seem to grasp what a very, very rare player Aaron Jones is. It's going to be a damned long time before we ever see another running back in Green Bay like we've enjoyed the last few years.

I suspect Jacobs' YPC is going to trend sharply upwards very soon, but as it stands right now, it's hard to deny that we gave up one of the most purely productive running backs in the history of not only the Green Bay Packers but the entire NFL and replaced him with someone who statistically seems very unlikely to ever hit the mark left by Jones. But, odds are, Jones is unlikely to clear that bar himself going forward over the next couple of years.

Jacobs may never be the RB Jones was, and in fact, almost certainly will not be. Statistically, it's very unlikely, because Jones truly was a historically great running back - I mean, truly great. Our chances of scooping up another consecutive player who is one of the most productive RBs of all time is like expecting to have 2 all-time great quarterbacks in a row, let alone 3 - and who in their right mind could ever believe something like that can, happen, right?



Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post

What I hope is that Jacobs becomes the workhorse, consistent running back that Dillon always teased at being but never really was, and that GB finds a quick, fast and elusive runner and receiver to replace what Jones was, even if for fewer touches per game than Jones was.

GB is only half done rebuilding their backfield.
Totally agree. I just hope the second piece of the puzzle is a rookie, rather than another FA, but I'd be shocked if he signed another UFA for the position when we have so many Day Two picks in a year with so many Day Two RBs.