Green Bay Packers 2018 roster battles

3. Starting Running Back

The second of the offensive battles is one of the more difficult ones to pick. The team currently boasts three players that started and played well last season. Ty Montgomery has the most experience and the best dual-threat ability. Aaron Jones burst onto the scene against the Dallas Cowboys and looked poised to lock up the starter role before suffering an injury. Jamal Williams dealt with his own injuries and inconsistencies.

As it currently stands, Montgomery is listed as the starter, but he does not hold a firm grasp on the position. At the beginning of last season, Montgomery was one of the most used running backs in the entire league. Due to being on the smaller side for a running back and not being used to a full workload, that’s probably one of the reasons that he became injured. Last season was his chance to prove he could handle a full workload, and it, unfortunately, didn’t work out, which could cost him his spot this season.

Jones is the running back with the best chance to win the starting spot. If it weren’t for a knee injury in the middle of the season, he would have started all year. If his grade held over a full season, he would have been the 13th graded running back per Pro Football Focus. This put him ahead of stars such as Ezekiel Elliot, Devonta Freeman and all of the other Packers running backs. A great natural runner, Jones needs to work on his receiving and pass-blocking to secure a full three-down role. Montgomery performed very well in these two metrics, and Jones should take note of what he did.

Unfortunately for Williams, he’ll have to put on an amazing performance to overtake these two on the depth chart. He battled some inconsistency issues, but he is still an upgrade over Devante Mays. He’ll earn playing time, but it won’t be the starting role.