The Green Bay Packers have a sneaky need at running back, or a not-so-sneaky one, depending on your perspective. Backup Emanuel Wilson left in free agency to join the Seattle Seahawks, and while the Packers re-signed Chris Brooks to a two-year deal, he is more of a blocking back than a ballcarrier. Is this the year MarShawn Lloyd stays healthy? Hopefully.
As for Josh Jacobs, those wheels keep adding mileage. There has been talk that the Packers could release him next year.
What can they do about it this year? Well, they could make do with Brooks and Lloyd and kick the Jacobs can down the road, or they could seize what suddenly looks like a prime opportunity in the 2026 NFL Draft. That opportunity has appeared in the form of Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price, whom the Packers should seriously consider drafting with the 52nd overall pick.
Packers drafting Jadarian Price in Round 2 would surprisingly make a lot of sense
That might seem like a foolish statement. Burn their best pick on a running back, when Jacobs is still here and the team has obvious needs at cornerback and edge-rusher?
Granted, if there are better options on the table when the Packers hit the clock, they should take them. What they shouldn't do is dismiss Price out of hand due to position.
Despite being RB2 at Notre Dame behind Jeremiyah Love, Price had himself a productive season, piling up 674 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on six yards per tote. Per Pro Football Focus, he averaged 3.92 yards after contact and ripped off 24 carries of 10-plus yards. His resulting explosive-play rate of 21.2 percent was actually a bit better than Love's 19.6 percent.
Behind a beast like Love, he didn't get the opportunities he might have elsewhere. The Packers could use that lack of national hype to their advantage to steal a potential No. 1 option late in the second round. Hopefully his draft stock, creeping up of late, stays low enough to give them that chance. Right now, NFL Mock Draft Database ranks him 48th among all prospects.
Like cornerback and edge-rusher, running back could suddenly become a position of pressing need itself. The depth chart is already thin. Wilson might not be a lightning bolt, but he churned through nearly 1,000 yards over the past two years, and the Packers did nothing to replace him.
As RB1, Jacobs couldn't stay healthy last season and was noticeably less efficient. That's due in part to playing hurt and an unstable offensive line, but four yards per carry simply isn't good enough production on a four-year, $48 million contract. With nearly 1,900 career carries, including the playoffs, he may be slowing down naturally. Running backs not named Derrick Henry typically don't age well.
Most notably, cutting Jacobs after next season would save the Packers a projected $13.5 million. It's definitely possible, perhaps even likely. Not long ago, it seemed like we might already be headed there.
Let's not even think about an RB room led by Brooks, Lloyd, and Damien Martinez. Those guys are fine backups or practice-squad insurance policies. Is anyone a real No. 2? Leave it at that.
Green Bay has had success drafting a second-round running back before, taking AJ Dillon at No. 62 six years ago out of Boston College. While Price does not boast Dillon's college workload, he comes from an elite program, is clearly more explosive, and is the second-ranked back in the 2026 draft class.
With the future of the running back room on deceptively thin ice, striking now could have the Packers thanking themselves later.