Packers fantasy: Running back-by-committee potentially bad news
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said the team will take on a running back-by-committee approach this season. This could be bad news for fantasy owners.
The dreaded “running back-by-committee” phrase. It might work out favorably for the Green Bay Packers’ offense, but it could put fantasy owners into a difficult spot.
The Packers’ trio of Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones and Ty Montgomery all played well last season when given a featured role, but neither sustained the success throughout the season. Injuries played a big role in that.
For that reason, McCarthy has made it clear the team will rotate the running backs.
“The fact of the matter is we’re going to go running back by committee,” McCarthy said, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “But if one of them would emerge as that full-time guy then you have to have that ability to … adjust to that.”
The second part of McCarthy’s quote is more encouraging.
Check out our fantasy football page here at Lombardi Ave and you’ll see I’ve praised Aaron Jones all offseason, and believe that of the three running backs on the Packers’ roster, he’s the one to draft.
If the Packers do take on a running back-by-committee approach, you should be cautious when selecting one of the trio.
For various reasons last season, the carries were distributed between the three backs.
Williams, Jones and Montgomery had a combined 305 carries for 1,227 yards and 11 touchdowns. Williams led the way with 556 yards and four touchdowns, followed by Jones with 448 yards and four touchdowns. Montgomery had just 273 yards and three scores after missing most of the season due to injury.
It led to a frustrating situation for fantasy football. Which running back could you trust to start week in, week out? The answer was none of them.
It’s possible McCarthy will determine who receives the most carries on a week-to-week basis. It could depend on the opponent, the game plan or simply how well each back plays early in the game.
If that is the case, it will be tough to trust any of the Packers’ running backs in your lineup. At best, you could take a gamble and add one to your flex spot in a favorable matchup.
Now, it’s also possible that one of the backs plays so well, McCarthy has no choice but to give them the bulk of the carries every week. He said he would be willing to “adjust to that” if necessary.
If you want to draft a Packers running back late on with the hope of them becoming the featured back, I’d go with Jones. When healthy he was the most productive of the three last season, and was dominant at times with Aaron Rodgers on the field.
The Packers’ running back situation will be worth monitoring closely throughout training camp and preseason.
A running back-by-committee approach would be frustrating and difficult to predict.
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In my opinion, Jones is the most likely to earn a bigger role, but right now anything could happen.
We’ll learn a lot about the Packers’ plan at running back this summer at training camp.