The Green Bay Packers have something to prove in the 2024 NFL season. Not a few were surprised to see the Packers make it to the playoffs last season, let alone post a win in the postseason and reach the NFC divisional round in Year 1 of the post-Aaron Rodgers era.
If the Packers are to impress anew in 2024, they are going to need Green Bay newcomer Josh Jacobs, who is essentially the team’s replacement for Aaron Jones. According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Jacobs is the Packers’ X-factor.
Because this is usually on the defense — and the defense almost never lives up to the challenge, hence the Packers being on their third defensive coordinator in the past six seasons — maybe it’s worth considering that the difference between good and great for this team is whether Jacobs can have the kind of impact Aaron Jones had when healthy. Jacobs’ age (26 compared with Jones’ 29) and durability were among the reasons Green Bay made the change at running back, but he has big shoes to fill.
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Jacobs signed a four-year contract with Green Bay last March. The deal is worth $48 million with $12.5 million of it guaranteed. At 26 years old, Jacobs should still be at the top of his game despite being just a couple of years removed from a 340-carry season with the Las Vegas Raiders. He played in only 13 games in 2023, his final year with the Raiders, accumulating 805 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 233 rushing attempts.
If Jacobs generates the numbers he had in 2022 with the Raiders for his first season in Packers uniform, Green Bay’s attack should be one of the best again in the NFL. Last season, Green Bay was eighth in the league with 23.8 points per game, 10th with 348.3 total yards per contest, and only 14th in rushing yards with 114.9 on the ground per outing.
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