GREEN BAY − Green Bay Press-Gazette and PackersNews columnist Pete Dougherty responds to reader questions on the hot topics of the Green Bay Packers’ offseason.
Following is an excerpt from this week’s mailbag. For the full mailbag, click here.
Can the Packers really count on MarShawn Lloyd?
Scott Velasquez: The running back room seems a little light and highly dependent on [Josh] Jacobs. Do you foresee management getting a veteran RB before training camp? They need to add some explosiveness and MarShawn Lloyd has already proven to be unreliable.
Alison G: Unless the Packers are waiting for cuts, they seem to be banking on MarShawn Lloyd as the top backup running back. Weren’t most of his injuries soft tissue in nature? And didn’t he go through the same program [at UW] that seems to have worked for Christian Watson? If so, maybe backup RB isn’t as dire as it seems. What say you, Pete?
Dougherty: Backup running back was one of my big questions immediately after the draft. It’s a crucial position in Matt LaFleur’s offense, and it’s such a high-attrition position you really need a couple of good ones to get through a season.
So yeah, I’m still thinking that somehow or other the Packers need to add another running back. I suppose it could be in the next couple of weeks, though more likely during training camp, at the end of camp or maybe in a trade before the trade deadline during the season.
The Packers did sign an undrafted rookie running back, Central Florida’s Jaden Nixon. But this was a weak RB class overall, and I doubt they expect him to come in as a rookie and be their No. 2.
He’s a small back (5-foot-9, 199 pounds) and averaged 6.1 yards a carry at Oklahoma State, Western Michigan and Central Florida in his college career. There’s always the chance he’ll surprise and win the No. 2 role if Lloyd’s injury issues continue – it’s worth remembering that Emanuel Wilson was undrafted and became the No. 2. But it’s not something anyone should be counting on. So yeah, it seems like a really big roll of the dice with Lloyd. His run of soft-tissue injury after soft-tissue injury over two years has been incredible.
As Alison G. said, Lloyd did visit a biomechanics clinic in California later last year to try to get to the bottom of his soft-tissue issues. Our Tom Silverstein reported that the clinic determined an ACL tear he sustained in college was making him susceptible to muscle pulls.
He returned to practice at the end of the season but never was activated to the roster. But he’s had quite a while to work through whatever rehab/maintenance program prescribed.
So the Packers might have reason to be optimistic. But it still looks like a big roll of the dice. For what it’s worth, right after the draft, GM Brian Gutekunst said he had no plans to add a veteran back. LaFleur said backup running back is something they’ll be monitoring in the offseason.
It’s worth remembering, too, that you never know what they might be thinking. They paid Brandon McManus his $1M roster bonus in March, so it looked like he was for sure their kicker again this year. Then they surprised everyone with their trade of two D7s to move up for Trey Smack with the last pick of the sixth round.
It could be they’re content to see whether Lloyd can get through camp healthy, and if not add a back via a waiver claim after the roster cutdown, or make a trade. Or even wait until early in the season to make a trade.
Regardless, I don’t see any way they can go into the season with Chris Brooks as their No. 2. He’s a good special-teams player, but he’s not much of a threat with the ball in his hands. I know the Packers and some observers like him as a third-down back because of his blocking, but if I’m a defensive coordinator, I’m fine seeing him take the field on third downs because you don’t have to worry about him making a play.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Can Packers count on MarShawn Lloyd as No. 2 running back? | Mailbag
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
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