The Green Bay Packers got off to as good of a start as a team could hope for in the 2023 NFL regular season. Their Week One win over the Chicago Bears saw the team put up 38 points while Jordan Love threw three touchdowns and had a passer rating of 123.2. David Bakhtiari was in vintage form and Aaron Jones had over 120 yards from scrimmage while scoring twice.

Needless to say, it has been all downhill from there. Jones hurt his hamstring in the fourth quarter of that Bears’ game and has missed three of the team’s next four games. In the one game he did play, he was barely utilized (six touches for 14 yards).

Bakhtiari, of course, will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. In his stead, Rasheed Walker has done well in pass protection (76.5 PFF grade) but has struggled mightily in run blocking (43.8 PFF grade, the worst on the team).

Going into the season, Jones and Bakhtiari were the two of the very few veteran leaders on the offense. Losing them has obviously been difficult for the Packers to overcome. That being said, it is clear who Green Bay’s most important player is and will be if they are to have any kind of success this season.

Aaron Jones Is the Green Bay Packers’ Most Important Player

In Week One, the Packers’ offense gained 329 total yards. Jones accounted for 127 of those yards, or 38% of the team’s total. As we have seen, that level or production is not so easily replaced.

Last season, the Packers were 4-1 when Jones received at least 15 carries in a game. Running the ball, especially with Jones as the lead back, is a proven recipe for success.

The Week One win over the Bears is a perfect example of this. On their opening drive, Jones carried the ball five times for 25 yards. The drive ended in a Love touchdown to Romeo Doubs. After that opening drive, the offense stalled. Jones didn’t get a single carry or reception until after halftime.

On the Packers’ opening drive of the third quarter, Jones rushed the ball four times for 17 yards and had one reception for seven yards. The drive culminated in a Jones one-yard touchdown run.

The next time Green Bay got the ball, Jones scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass. It was on that play that Jones injured his hamstring.

For the rest of the game, Green Bay’s offense was inconsistent. They had one more scoring drive, but otherwise struggled to move the ball.

This struggle has continued throughout their last four games.

Obviously, it is not feasible for Jones to touch the ball four to five times on each drive. That would only wear him out and create even more chances for him to be injured.

That being said, it is clear that when he does get the ball four to five times, good things happen. As was the case last year, the key will be Matt LaFleur calling plays that involve Jones. Five touches in one half of a game is not a recipe of success.

He is their most important weapon on offense. They need to use him.

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