Following the release of franchise legend Aaron Jones, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spent much of the 2024 offseason rebuilding the running back room. That began, of course, with the signing of free-agent bellcow Josh Jacobs. The former Las Vegas Raider inked a four-year deal that included no guarantees after the first season. However, after turning in a stellar campaign that saw him become the undisputed focal point of the offense, he is back for 2025. A big story of the 2024 season league-wide was veteran running backs reclaiming their value on the open market. Both Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry received extensions and raises from their respective teams, while the Jacobs deal now looks like a potential bargain for Green Bay.
The second key investment that Gutekunst made at the position has been largely swept under the rug. In the third round of the 2024 draft, the Packers selected Mar’Shawn Lloyd 88th overall. The standout USC product flashed receiving ability and big-play potential in college, making him an excellent compliment to Jacobs’ early-down bruising. However, his rookie season quickly spiraled into a redshirt year when he suffered hip, hamstring, and ankle injuries. Then, to top it all off, hospitalization and emergency surgery for appendicitis in mid-November, just as he looked to make a return to the field. Running backs coach Ben Sirman described the sequence of misfortune as “freakish,” but Lloyd has carried a good attitude into training camp this summer, lamenting that “everything happens for a reason.”
In Lloyd’s absence, the Packers turned to the tandem of Fort Valley State product Emanuel Wilson and former Miami Dolphin Christopher Brooks. Each of them were able to contribute throughout the season, and Wilson in particular had his moments, but there is a lot of excitement about the juice that Lloyd can bring to the backfield as Jacobs’ breather. In an article earlier this summer, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman looked into his potential role as the offense’s X-factor. A positive drumbeat for the second-year back has carried into camp, but hit a snag earlier this week when an injury scare reminiscent of last year’s laundry list of woes popped up during a team period.
On Tuesday, head coach Matt LaFleur called the injury “unfortunate” and referenced “a lot of adversity” that Lloyd has fought through to begin his career, but he offered a more positive update Thursday, saying “it’s not going to be a long-term deal, but I wouldn’t anticipate him this week.”
The groin injury was sustained on a play where Lloyd was cracked by newly signed cornerback Nate Hobbs, but coaches and media members have pushed back on the notion that Hobbs directly injured Lloyd, referencing a planting issue before the contact. Hobbs has been told to turn down the physicality, but also praised for the energy and identity he is bringing to the defense early on. After failing to address the cornerback position after the loss of Jaire Alexander and a generally underperforming room in 2024, Hobbs will have a crucial role in holding the defense together against the elite receivers across the division and conference.
Heading into 2025, the story in Green Bay is about taking the leap. After a muted offseason, despite financial flexibility, the onus is now on the young core to take that step themselves. There has been an abundance of regular-season success under LaFleur and Gutekunst. It’s a phenomenon that stretched the entirety of the Aaron Rodgers era. Now, it’s about finding that extra gear to be able to compete with the best, when it matters the most. Lloyd’s role will be instrumental in taking the offense to the next level.
Lloyd doesn’t have a clear path to an every-down role, barring injury, but the RB2 role is about bringing juice, big-play potential, reliability so that Jacobs can get a breather when he needs it, and supplementing the strengths and weaknesses of the lead back. Jacobs came a long way in 2024, recording the first receiving touchdown of his career, but his specialty has always been to play between the tackles, and Lloyd’s versatility can allow him to continue to lean into that.
With just over a month until kickoff, we won’t have to wait much longer to see the Jacobs-Lloyd duo in action, nearly a year and a half after they were assembled. After seeing the schemes that LaFleur and Adam Stenavich drew up to play to the strengths of Jacobs and Malik Willis, it will be interesting to see what they have in the lab for Mar’Shawn Lloyd. At this point, we can only hope that health and circumstances cooperate, so that hopefully we can finally see what all the excitement is about.
