Green Bay Packers: Aaron Jones should see bigger role in 2018

The Green Bay Packers don’t rely heavily on running backs in their offense, but they should look to get Aaron Jones more touches in 2018.

There’s a reason that the Green Bay Packers were so comfortable moving Ty Montgomery to be their starting running back. In the simplest of terms, the Packers aren’t a team that greatly values the position. They instead largely use their running back as a safety valve for Aaron Rodgers, which makes sense given the prowess and success of their star quarterback.

For that purpose, having a converted wide receiver in Montgomery at the position makes a great deal of sense. However, at a certain point, a team is doing themselves a disservice by not utilizing potentially explosive and effective playmakers because of that. And Green Bay could be in that position with second-year back Aaron Jones.

A fifth-round pick out of UTEP in 2017, Jones was considered a sleeper by many draft experts after a productive collegiate career. And when he got on the field and received a sizable workload last year, he seemed to prove those people right.

Jones started four games from Weeks 4-7 for the Packers and was quite productive in that role. The then-rookie amassed 346 yards on 62 carries (5.58 yards per) and found the end zone three times. While he wasn’t a perfect player and showed the need for improvement in pass-blocking, Jones did prove that he could be effective when given the ball.

Unfortunately for Jones, both injuries and a midseason arrest for driving with a controlled substance in his system (marijuana) caused him to lose his role. After Week 7, he didn’t receive more than five touches in a single game and wasn’t on the field for the team’s final two games of the regular season.

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Coming into 2018, however, the Packers would be wise to look to Jones again. Surely he has to prove he’s trustworthy to the team, both from an off-field and health perspective. However, if he can do that, he flashed enough as a rookie to warrant getting more touches in the upcoming season. And Green Bay could ultimately benefit from having a bonafide running back to complement the return of Rodgers to the passing attack.