Packers Aaron Jones Among the Best at Shaking Free from Tackles

Standing 5’9″ – 208 pounds, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones isn’t exactly the most imposing figure at the position–especially when sharing that same backfield with AJ Dillon.

However, over the last two seasons, Jones has been one of the more difficult backs in football to bring down.

In 2020, Jones rushed for what is still a career-high 1,104 yards, and he finished fourth in the NFL among all running backs in average yards after contact, according to PFF ($$).

Of the 5.5 yards per carry that Jones averaged that season, 3.6 of those yards, on average, came after contact from the defense. He also finished ninth in missed tackles forced with 44 and fourth in PFF’s elusive rating, which is an all-encompassing stat that takes into account the number of rush attempts and receptions, missed tackles forced, and yards after contact average.

This past year in each of those categories, Jones wasn’t as effective as he had been in 2020–although he still ranked quite well overall. Among 61 running backs, Jones finished 15th in average yards after contact, 14th in missed tackles forced, and 15th in PFF’s elusive rating.

Jones is a strong runner with excellent vision, and he possesses the superb ability to shrink when navigating the line of scrimmage to find holes–all of which plays a role in making him so difficult to get down.

A likely contributor to Jones’ dip, not only in the mentioned stats but also in his overall production, was the play of the Packers’ offensive line due to all of the injuries.

All things considered, this Green Bay Packers offensive line held up well despite having to utilize seven different combinations over the course of the season. With that said, they weren’t nearly as dominant as they had been in 2020–which should have been expected.

Jones himself went from averaging 5.5 yards per rush, as mentioned already, to 4.7. As a team, the Packers’ yard per carry average fell from 4.8 yards in 2020 to 4.3 this past season. Green Bay also saw fewer explosive running plays — or rushes of 10-plus yards — going from 53 to 37, according to Sharp Football.

In fact, if it wasn’t for Jones’ ability to shake tackles, along with AJ Dillon as well, who finished 17th in average yards after contact, the injuries that the Packers dealt with upfront would have been much more noticeable than what they were.

While many of us wonder how this Green Bay Packers’ offense will function without Davante Adams, the health and play of the offensive line will be a big contributor to this unit’s success. In addition to the run game not being as effective, Aaron Rodgers was pressured more last season even with getting the ball out quicker, along with there being fewer shot plays, tight ends asked to help block more, and play-action wasn’t as successful either.

We may also see more two running back sets from the Packers this season as well with the uncertainty at receiver. As Pete Dougherty of Packers News would write following Green Bay’s late-season win over Minnesota, the offense as a whole averaged 7.4 yards per play that game when Jones and Dillon shared the field.

Entering the 2022 season, the Packers have arguably the best running back duo in the NFL, and in part, what makes Jones — along with Dillon — so good is that bringing him down is no easy task.