One thing you can count on Gute's approach is that he will never allow his team to be backed into an "urgent" corner prior to the draft. So having Jacobs lined up for a contract and subsequently bringing back Dillon for minimal risk made perfect sense.

Although upgrades on the IOL would be helpful, Dillon still needs to perform better than that 3.4 yards/attempt last season. He averaged only about 2.7 yards after contact and didn't break many tackles, either. A power back built like Dillon should be able to churn through the humanity with much more frequency.

But he was effective in the Chiefs game when we needed him to be, and he currently is the best pass blocker of the trio on the roster. No question Gute will still be looking for running backs come draft time, but this move provides flexibility and the chance to address other positions with (hopefully) at least the first four picks.

Dillion—hard to bring down—I don’t know about that Gil? Given all the superlatives concerning his monster legs etc, I have very little faith in his short yardage ability. Dillion could use a little Edgar Bennett- wide stride- balancing act.
I don’t dislike Dillion, but I believe we should be more realistic about his performance. As someone else mentioned, he’s not Earl Campbell or Derrick Henry.
Gi Packers!!!

A LB to sign:

Isaiah Simmons, New York Giants, 26: At this stage of a player’s career, draft grades still matter. Simmons was the eighth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. He had 105 tackles and four forced fumbles in 2021 and 99 tackles along with career highs of four sacks and seven passes defensed in 2022. So, his career was on its way, right? Nah. Toward the end of training camp last summer, he was traded to the Giants for a seventh-round pick.

In 17 games with four starts in 2023, he had 54 tackles, one sack and three passes defensed. He played 40-plus percent of the snaps in only two games. According to PFF, he played 166 snaps in the box, 137 on the defensive line and 65 in the slot. In 2022, almost half his snaps came in the slot. In 2021, he played more traditional linebacker.

Simmons is an interesting and talented player. At 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, he’s got the size to play linebacker. Is there any fit in Green Bay?

To be fair to Dillon, in 2023, he was used quite a bit later in games, with Packers ahead. During that part of the games, his usage was more "run out the clock" than "get the yards". That usually results in less yardage.

However, Dillon is easy to bring down. I always get the feeling that if Dillon happens to collide with a defender, he would be saying apologetically "excuse me, I'm sorry, I hope you're not hurt". Running backs should strike fear into defenders... fear that their chest would be caved in... fear that a stiff-arm would knock their heads back... fear that their shoulders would be dislocated. All that hype about quads is just fun and memes. If he could develop a killer instinct, and somehow generate some rage against any and all defenders, we may see a different Dillon.

Did we get better? I don’t think we got worse and we did extend our horizon at the position. At this point the one thing that’s certain is that our lead running style has changed. In turn that will require some differences of approach on the OL and play calling. Can we deliver in terms of personnel and offensive coaching adjustment?

After all of the hand-wringing about Aaron Jones' departure, this article paints a picture that is maybe a little TOO rosy. I'm in the middle and am interested to see what happens. I am cautiously optimistic. I like what Pete Dougherty wrote: If you had one game to play, you would take Aaron Jones over Josh Jacobs. But for a whole season, the choice would be Jacobs, hands-down.

Glad to see Dillon back. The knock on him was that he had a sub-par year in 2023. Statistically that is true, but during the part of the season he was the #1 back (early to mid-season when Jones was injured, the offensive line was underperforming badly. The whole offense was struggling because of o-line problems.

It seemed like every time they gave Dillon the ball, there was no place for him to run. Love was struggling as well while under constant pressure.

As the season progressed, the line played better, created some running lanes and pass protected better.

By then, Jones was back in the lineup and Dillon didn't get as many opportunities.

I think Dillon is most effective if he gets a hole and builds up a good head of steam. That's when he delivers the blow to the unfortunate defender and pushes the pile back for extra yards after contact.

I'd love to see GB add some young road-graders to the o-line and then unleash Dillon and Jacobs on them.

You'll see some very tired, hurting run defenses by the 3rd and 4th quarters.

Like Lombardi said, "I like the run game. It makes you hard-nosed".

It would be fun to see some "hard-nosed" Packer football again.

Great article, Gil! I'm going to add a little to it, starting with a 14 minute interview with Jacobs that I've linked before:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uwDfseXINLQ

My impression: great guy, GREAT attitude, and best of all he's long time friends with the hungriest player on the team, #25. If he can match that intensity?!? LOOK OUT, this will be a GREAT season!

Further, I hope to see Dillon used in the Kyle Juscyk role. Yes, I know other people are in line for that. I tell you what, if I had the choice of having to try to stop either Jusczyk or Dillon - and no disrespect to Jusczyk, (sp?) but I'm picking him EVERY TIME. Pity the fool that tries to bring down Dillon, and doubly so as a FB. How many players did he send out of the game in KC for being stupid enough to try to tackle him? And I say that as someone who at 16 who was inch for inch built about like Emmit Smith; a little more weight in the upper body, but still - legs that are crazy strong. I don't want to get in Dillon's way, if he's pissed and has a full head of steam, He's an incredibly nice guy, but he's proven to me that he can bring the nasty when it counts, and I see that in Jacobs in this interview. Plus, Dillon dropped ONE pass in this "disappointing season," and 0 fumbles. MLF's offense is too much like Shanahan's not to have a GREAT lead blocker, and I can't imagine someone better for it than Dillon. Let him plow the field, let Jacobs do what he does. And of course Dillon is still a weapon, as is Juczyk.

I say welcome to Green Bay, Mister Jacobs!! Yes I'm disappointed we don't get #33 back, of course. I wish him the best, as long as he gets stripped every time he tries to carry the ball against the Packers :) Pick him up, carry him backwards for 15 yards while three other players attack like a pack of hyenas to get the ball. His listed weight is 208?!? He's more like #173, dripping wet. Dillon is substantially heavier than his listed #247. I have no idea what Jacobs is even listed at, but his #405 bench many years ago indeed translates into a wicked stiff arm that I do not want to be on the receiving end of, and his lifts have increased substantially since then.

A week ago the pressing needs were DB, OL, LB and RB. The order seemed about right.

This week they seem to be OL, LB and DB. That order seems about right. And RB isn't on it...so yes, the Pack has improved its RB room for 2024.

The draft is loaded with OL talent...some day one starters, some who will challenge to start during the season and a bunch of future starters/quality depth players.

I hope LB is one of the top 2 selections...and could see 3 OL taken with the first 6.

This is a nice draft to invest in talent to protect Love and plow the road for years to come.

There are not many RBs that gain yardage late in games when teams are trying to run clock, and the defense knows it. I always feel bad for the players because they are getting hit 2 yards deep in the backfield. Even good running offensive lines struggle in those situations.