Josh Jacobs is putting together one of the best rushing seasons in recent Packers history

On By Littum

Josh Jacobs’ first season in Green Bay is going according to plan. A seamless replacement for Aaron Jones, Jacobs has been a vital part of the Packers’ offense, providing both a perfect complement to their passing attack and the main engine of their ground game. In at least two instances — the Colts game and the Jaguars game — he’s nearly won the game for them.

You probably won’t be surprised, then, to hear that Jacobs is putting up some of the best rushing stats we’ve seen from a Packers rusher in a while.

Through 13 games, Jacobs has piled up 987 rushing yards, third in the league behind the Herculean totals of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry. Barring anything unexpected, Jacobs will cross the 1,000-yard mark Thursday night, giving the Packers their first non-Aaron Jones 1,000-yard rusher since Eddie Lacy in 2014.

Bolstered by the still relatively new 17-game schedule, Jacobs is on pace for just 1,400 rushing yards this season (1,398, to be exact). If he’s able to keep that pace, Jacobs will record the Packers’ best rushing season since Ahman Green’s franchise-record 1,883 yards in 2003. Post-Green, only Ryan Grant has broken 1,200 rushing yards in a season , and do it back to back. seasons in 2008 and 2009.

On the all-time scale, Jacobs is already moving up the Packers’ career rushing leaderboard. Jacobs already ranks 47th in Packers history and will be comfortably in the top 40 by year’s end. If he can come close to duplicating that kind of effort next year, Jacobs will almost certainly be in the top 20 in Packers all-time rushing annals.

It has been a perfect fit, and in retrospect, maybe it was fate. Jacobs was only available because his relationship with Las Vegas Raiders had the acid. Jacobs ended up with the Raiders in the first round because they had an extra first-round pick in 2019, one they acquired from Chicago Bears as part of the Khalil Mack trade prior to the 2018 season. The Packers, who were believed to be in the market for Mack, ended up reaping an indirect benefit from that trade anyway.

Is it a stretch to say that Jacobs is only successful in Green Bay because of the Chicago Bears? For sure, but I’ll say it anyway. Thanks again, Chicago.