Paul Bretl | 7/21/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — As productive and impactful as running back Josh Jacobs was during his first season with the Packers, he believes that there is a lot more out there for him in 2025.
“I had like 300-some yards called back, but not only that, there were a few plays where I had some one-on-ones where if I made a person miss or broke that tackle, it was the difference between a 20-yard gain and a 60-yard gain,” Jacobs said during OTAs. “So them little things like that, I feel like that’s what makes people elite. So that’s the thing I’ve tried to come in the offseason and work on.”
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Jacobs finished the 17-game regular season rushing for 1,329 yards, which was the sixth-most in football. He was also third in yards after contact and fourth in missed tackles forced, according to PFF.
But going beyond the production, Jacobs’ impact went beyond his own column on the stat sheet. With Jordan Love navigating a knee injury early on in the season and overall inconsistency from the wide receiver position, the Packers leaned heavily into Jacobs and the running game. This included shifting their running style from being an often outside zone-heavy running team to a more power approach to suit Jacobs’ play style.
“It’s like everybody says, the guy is a dawg, not just in the way he carries the ball, but also just his presence,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans. “It’s one of the things that we talk about in our room, being around really good running backs, they have a presence about them on the field that kind of permeates throughout the team through their game play as well as when they’re in the locker room.”
Jacobs would carry the ball 301 times during the regular season, the sixth-highest mark in the NFL. As a team, the Packers’ 30.6 rush attempts per game in 2024 ranked fifth.
Even for Jacobs, who is accustomed to a heavy workload, those 301 carries were the second-most of his career in a season. However, he entered the offseason feeling great with a focus on conditioning being “the biggest thing” that Jacobs prioritized.
“My body felt great, man,” Jacobs said of the offseason. “I didn’t go into the offseason really battling anything into the offseason really battling anything, really, so I would say last year or maybe another year was probably the best I felt after a season. So I feel pretty good.”
So as good as last season was for Jacobs and the Packers running game, where are the areas of opportunity for greater growth?
As Jacobs described, there were specific plays where he failed to make a defender miss or break a tackle that would have resulted in a much bigger run. But also a key part of this equation is the play of the offensive line.
While Jacobs’ numbers are certainly impressive and the run-blocking from the offensive line unit was typically sound, what the Packers didn’t do a lot of last season, relative to the number of carries Jacobs had, was generate explosive runs.
By PFF’s breakaway rate metric, which measures how often a back generated a run of 15 or more yards, Jacobs ranked 32nd in that category. Another way to look at it is 78% of Jacobs’ total rushing yards came after contact. For some context, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry were in the 55% to 60% range.
These stats aren’t about Jacobs either, but more so it’s about the offensive line being able to consistently get Jacobs beyond the line of scrimmage cleanly and to the second level, where his ability to make defenders miss can then generate those explosive runs.
“I tell people all the time,” Jacobs said, “if you take a good back and you give him space, that’s what separates a lot of people. Like, if I’m getting touched three yards [downfield] and I only have to worry about a linebacker or a safety, I’m going to win a lot more of those than I lose.
“So I think that’s the difference. Obviously Saquon, a special player like him with an elite line, it’s like, it’s just going to make you look crazy [great], you know? So obviously we’re chasing that right now and we’re going to see how it plays out.”
To help accomplish this, the Packers have bulked up the interior of their offensive line by signing Aaron Banks in free agency and moving Elgton Jenkins to center. Those two, along with Sean Rhyan at right guard, give the Packers some real people-movers inside.
Naturally, all eyes will be on Love, the wide receivers, and the passing game, but Jacobs and the running game are going to continue to play a huge role in making things go on offense. Jacobs’ impact is twofold; it’s not only the production he brings to the table, but when an offense has a strong running game to lean on, it keeps them ahead of the sticks, out of predictable passing situations, and can open opportunities through the air.
Oftentimes for an offense, overall consistency starts with how effective that unit is in the run game.
“With this type of locker room, where we’ve got pieces all over the board, offense and defense, it just makes that urgency get a little bit more intense, because the only thing that can really stop us is us,” Jacobs said. “If we lock in on the things we need to do, if we put the work in, then we’ll reap the benefits.”