Making a Case for Keeping Four Running Backs

Life is tough on NFL running backs.

The window for earnings is short. The position has been devalued, making the draft process harder.

Then you add in that even if you do everything right with the chance you get, nothing is guaranteed.

Meet Emanuel Wilson.

Wilson has done everything right since coming to Green Bay has an undrafted free agent.

He's said the right things. He's been a model teammate. He roots for his guys both ahead and behind him on the depth chart.

Oh, and on the field, he led the league in rushing during the preseason.

Is it just preseason? Sure.

But what other chance was Wilson supposed to get? To his credit, he took the ball and ran with it.

Literally.

Wilson's production in 2023 was limited. He was not on the field often before suffering a shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve.

Wilson would return and was trusted enough to carry the ball in a playoff game.

That wasn't nothing, but the Green Bay Packers still added competition to that room this offseason.

Josh Jacobs was a priority free agent signing. He's the starter, and the Packers are excited about his addition to the running back room.

AJ Dillon was brought back, in a bit of a surprise.

The Packers are excited about the potential duo of Jacobs and Dillon.

"Any time you can have Josh Jacobs and A.J. Dillon, that's a pretty good 1-2 combination right there. I'm excited to see those guys this year." Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said.

Stenavich is not in the front office, but his naming of Dillon in that group was telling.

The Packers expect Dillon to complement Jacobs in the same way he has Jones for the last two years.

Then they added Marshawn Lloyd in the third round.

Lloyd has been injured through most of camp with two separate lower body injuries, but he's in no danger of missing the roster.

Lloyd's quickness and ability in the open field are things that have LaFleur excited as well.

"He's going to have to get healthy. We've seen what he's capable of doing in practice but you'd just like to see it in a real game."

It's unclear as to when Lloyd will return to practice, but LaFleur's frustration in the above quote was evident. He's ready to deploy his new rookie running back.

If Lloyd's injury is severe enough, this decision kind of makes itself.

Lloyd could go on an injured list to start the season, and Wilson would take his spot as the team's third running back.

If everyone is healthy, the most likely scenario is that the Packers keep three running backs, with Wilson released to potentially land back on the practice squad.

This happens every year. Training camp darlings are born, and then fanbases fret over as to whether one will stay in Green Bay if he's released.

In almost 100 percent of those cases, the team can keep the player they release.

Wilson may have become an exception a season ago. The Packers were worried enough about losing him that he made the initial 53-man roster, despite clearly being behind Patrick Taylor in the eyes of the coaching staff.

Taylor was used more frequently early in the season as a practice squad call-up.

Now, Wilson is up to his old tricks. He's looked explosive in training camp and parlayed that into a strong performance in Saturday's 23-10 win over the Cleveland Browns.

That led to one interesting wrinkle that happened in Wednesday's practice.

AJ Dillon and Josh Jacobs were on the field at the same time. It was a blast from the past for Packer fans of the 1990s when Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens would be on the field at the same time.

LaFleur mentioned something like this was possible in the offseason.

“So we know what we’re getting with AJ Dillon," LaFleur said.

"I think there’s some versatility we can start to use with him moving forward, and start to use him more as a movable piece, not just a tailback.”

Perhaps that versatile role opens the door for the Packers to use an additional roster spot on a running back.

Wilson's explosiveness would be useful in LaFleur's two-back sets that he has used in the past.

With the bruising nature of Jacobs and Dillon, adding another back with some juice to the roster would complement both of those players well.

The issue there is that it would require the Packers to go lighter elsewhere.

Would they be willing to only keep two quarterbacks? Three tight ends? Five cornerbacks?

Who knows.

If Wilson continues to perform at this level, it becomes a conversation.

Related: AJ Dillon Fires Back At Critics