Green Bay Packers: AJ Dillon will Push for RB2 Snaps Right Away

AJ Dillon gives the Green Bay Packers another explosive option at running back, and he will push Jamaal Williams for RB2 reps right away.

One of a few surprises in this year’s NFL Draft for Green Bay Packers’ fans was when General Manager Brian Gutekunst decided to select running back A.J. Dillon early on with the 62nd pick.

With Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams both in the final year of their rookie contracts, drafting a running back should have absolutely been on Gutey’s radar. However, given the needs that they had elsewhere, many of us just thought that it would happen later on.

But nonetheless, Dillon is here and he gives the Green Bay Packers another explosive option at the running back position. In fact, once practices and the season gets underway, he could very well begin taking snaps away from Williams much sooner than later.

Over his three-year career, Williams has been an all-around solid running back for the Packers. Whether it be carrying the ball, as a pass-blocker, or in the passing game, Williams has provided Green Bay with a reliable option in all three phases. Something that is incredibly important to Matt LaFleur.

However, what he hasn’t been able to give this offense very often is that explosive, playmaking ability that they are in desperate need of.

We all know how much Gutekunst values drafting athletes and the Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is a good measuring stick for this. But with a 4.59 – 40 yard dash time and poor testing in the agility drills, Williams’ RAS of 4.54 is below average overall and well below what Gutey typically targets.

On the field, Williams has 66 receptions the past two seasons and averages 7.0 yards per catch. Meanwhile on the ground, he has a career average of just 3.9 yards per carry with only three rushes of 20 yards or more.

Now, no one expects Williams to be Aaron Jones by any means but based on what we’ve seen from Dillon at Boston College, he can provide the Packers with some more juice at the running back position.

During his three years in college, Dillon would rush for over 1,100 yards in all three and over 1,500 in two of them. This includes nearly 1,700 yards in 2019 along with 15 total touchdowns and a career average of 5.2 yards per carry. Oh, and did I mention that according to Sports Info Solutions he did all of that against loaded boxes 44 percent of the time?

Although at the NFL Combine Dillon would weigh in at 247 pounds – 34 pounds more than Williams – he certainly doesn’t move like a 250 pound back. For comparison sake, Dillon ran a 4.53 – 40 yard dash and tested very well on the agility drills while posting an overall elite RAS score of 9.16.

Then when watching him on the tape, Dillon is light on his feet, he can make defenders miss, and he has the ability to run away from the defense for the big play.

At the NFL level Dillon still has to prove that he can be an all-around effective back, especially when it comes to pass-caching and pass-blocking. As I’ve mentioned, those are two areas that Williams is very solid in and requirements for LaFleur’s offense.

But with that said, Dillon is the more explosive back of the two and if he can prove capable in those other areas, then it’s only a matter of time before he becomes RB2 on this Green Bay Packers team.