There are a great deal of questions surrounding the Green Bay Packers offense going into the 2023. Will Jordan Love be good? Can the Packers win with such a young group of wide receivers and tight ends?
One position group that was never in question, though, is the running backs. While fans and analysts debated whether or not Green Bay would take three running backs onto their 53-man roster, there was never a doubt who the top two were: Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.
Of course, the Packers did end up taking a third running back (Emanuel Wilson) onto their 53-man roster. However, it will be Jones and Dillon who get the bulk of the snaps and carries in 2023.
ESPN Insider Predicts AJ Dillon Will Surpass Aaron Jones as the Green Bay Packers’ Top Running Back

Gpg Training Camp 08082022 0002 (Green Bay Packers News)
In a recent article posted by ESPN, NFL insider Dan Graziano gave what he feels is one bold prediction for each NFL team. When it came to the Packers, Graziano wrote that he predicts Dillon will overtake Jones as the Packers’ main running back in 2023:
Don’t be surprised if … this is the year AJ Dillon overtakes Aaron Jones in the backfield.
What I’m hearing: The Packers love Jones, and they love using Jones and Dillon in tandem. And Dillon did disappoint a bit last season, when the Packers were imagining a bigger passing-game role for him that never came to fruition. But Jones is 28, which is an age at which the numbers tell us running backs start to decline, and he played through some ailments last year. Dillon is 25 and fits better long term with the young offensive core Green Bay is building around quarterback Jordan Love.
At some point this season, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dillon is starting to get a bigger share of the workload than Jones, who has one non-guaranteed year left on his contract after this one and carries an untenable $17.17 million salary cap charge for 2024.
Of course, Graziano is probably going off of the number of rushing yards each player had in 2022. Jones had a career-high 1,121 while Dillon had 770. However, in 2021, Dillon had 803 rushing yards compared to Jones’ 799. That year, both running backs had over 1,100 all-purpose yards.
All this to say that the notion that Dillon could out-produce Jones is not that “bold” of a take.
Graziano, though, does seem to be neglecting a few other pieces of information. While he goes into detail about Jones’ age, injuries, and financial situation, he neglects to bring up the fact that Dillon is playing in the final year of his contract and Green Bay has not even broached the topic of an extension with him. Perhaps the most bold take Graziano had in reference to the Packers’ running backs was when he wrote “Dillon is 25 and fits better long term…”
He also ignores the fact that both running backs will be vital to the success of the offense as a whole this season. If Matt LaFleur/Aaron Rodgers had decided to rely on the run game more in 2022, Green Bay would have made the Playoffs. When Dillon received at least 12 carries in a game last season, the Packers were 6-0. Similarly, Green Bay was 5-1 when Jones received 14 carries in a game.
In other words, the Packers need both running backs to be productive in order to be successful. Dillon will certainly get his share of opportunities, and he has proven he can be an effective running back in this league. The notion that he could surpass Jones in production is not at all that crazy. He matched it in 2021 and had close to 1,000 all-purpose yards in 2022 in what was considered a disappointing year.
If Dillon is healthy and has fixed the mechanical things that were wrong with his game last year, his out-producing Jones is not that bold of a take, considering how often Green Bay uses both running backs.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19 and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!