How many RBs will Packers carry and who will they be?

The Green Bay Packers have some decisions to make at running back for this upcoming season.

They will have to make a decision on how many running backs to keep on the initial roster as well as who those back-end of the roster players will be.

There are plenty of ways it can go for Green Bay, but it must be centered around the team’s offensive scheme for 2022.

In 2018, Brian Gutekunst’s first year as General Manager of the Packers, only two made the cut in Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery. However, Aaron Jones started on the reserve/suspended list.

We saw them keep three running backs with Jones, Williams, and Dexter Williams in Matt LaFleur’s first year as head coach, 2019.

In 2020 they continued the trend of adding a running back to the fold with Jones, (Jamaal) Williams, the drafting of AJ Dillon in the 2nd round, and a free agent signing in Tyler Ervin.

Most recently, in 2021, they let Jamaal Williams and Tyler Ervin walk in free agency and added Kylin Hill in the seventh round of the draft.

This year is a weird situation when it comes to running backs for the Green Bay Packers roster, and outlooks can change just by how the offense is viewed.

History would say that LaFleur has kept three running backs every year except for 2020 because in 2018 if Jones had not been suspended to start the year, he would have been on the opening day roster. They have also kept three for two of LaFleur’s first three years at the helm.

However, this year is like no other.

This is the Packers’ first season without superstar wide receiver Davante Adams since 2014, as he was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. They also lost Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the Kansas Chiefs in free agency this year.

This poses the question of how many running backs will the Packers carry on the roster?

Should they carry four running backs and run the ball more because of the perceived lack of weapons around the back-to-back MVP, Aaron Rodgers?

Or should Green Bay keep three in order to keep an extra receiver on the roster to help make up for some of Adams and Vales-Scantling’s lost production?

I would expect that the Packers carry seven wide receivers on the roster, meaning that they are probably only going to have three running backs on the opening day roster and one on injured reserve.

Jones and Dillon are locks to be on the roster. They are one of the best tandems in the league and are a huge part of LaFleur’s scheme.

Jones has been extremely productive under LaFleur, putting up at least 10 total touchdowns and 1,100 scrimmage yards each year.

Dillon saw his role increase exponentially this past season after Jamaal Williams’ departure. In his rookie year, he put up less than 250 rushing yards and had less than 50 total touches. But last year, he became a monster. Putting up just over 1,100 total yards and even had 34 receptions.

So those two backs are locked in; this is where it gets tough.

Kylin Hill will likely start the year on PUP due to his ACL tear last season against Arizona but when he is healthy, he will be a potential return specialist after almost 200 kick return yards last year in the midst of the circus that was the Packers’ special teams’ unit.

So that third roster spot is likely up for grabs until Hill returns and will come down to Patrick Taylor, Tyler Goodson, and BJ Baylor.

All three are undrafted free agents that signed with Green Bay. Goodson and Baylor signed this year, while Taylor had been picked up after the 2020 draft.

Taylor has been a constant in Packers camp, being there, including this year, the past three years. He spent his whole rookie year on the reserve/non-football injury list and then last season mostly on the practice squad, where he was actually able to be on the roster for the second half of last season, including 17 carries for a total of 71 yards in the last two regular-season games for the Packers.

That being said, he has not made the opening roster for the Packers once, and I would expect that trend to continue, and it would not be a surprise to see him on the practice squad come September.

That leaves Baylor and Goodson.

While Baylor had the single most productive season of the two in college with 1,400 total yards and 13 touchdowns last year, Goodson had more total production.

Goodson had more than 130 rushes each year in college, while last year was the only time Baylor had over 30. Goodson also was able to put up over 3,100 total yards and 19 touchdowns in his three years at Iowa, getting at least 800 yards and five touchdowns each year.

One worry that people would have about choosing Goodson over Baylor is that Baylor had 200 fewer carries at 308 than Goodson at 533. But Green Bay has shown their care or lack thereof about carries in college when they drafted AJ Dillon, who had almost 850 career carries in three years at Boston College.

But what gives Goodson the edge is his experience of helping in the passing game. In four years at Oregon State, Baylor had 16 total receptions, with eight coming in his extremely productive final year.

Goodson, on the other hand, had at least 15 receptions in all of his three college seasons. He racked up 565 receiving yards on 70 receptions for his career.

When the 53-man roster gets finalized on August 30th, it feels like there will be three running backs on the Packers roster, and those players will be Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, and Tyler Goodson.