Aaron Jones Signs 4 year, $48M extension

[VonKarman]

2 hours ago, skibrett15 said:

2 years, 13.5 mil in cap with 1 year 6.5 mil in dead cap in 2023.  Who cares about cash.

It's precisely the cap the one who cares about cash.

[craig]

Still surprised by the resigning, like many of you.  And not sure it will pay off, beats me.  But as an optimist/positivist, I wanted to process some ideas.  

Dillon-Jones redundant.  Last year, Jones played 539 snaps. Other backs (including Ervin and Austin) combined for a little over 700.  Those combined numbers may increase, since playing Jones and Dillon together might offer more and better options to MLF and Rodgers, and more confusion to defenses.  

Snaps vs effective utilization:  Getting snaps is one thing, being effective is another.  So just having Dillon-Jones each have plenty of snaps doesn't inherently make those all useful.  But, maybe they will be....

Jetsweep:  Not sure it's worthwhile, but Jones could kinda replace all of the jet-sweep snaps taken by Ervin-Austin-Savage, and he's got a chance to be WAY better, and to get way more touches in that role.  Part of the jet-sweep thing isn't running fast, part of it is having time to see what's up with the defense, and knowing when to cut versus sweep, or to fake, etc.  Jones might be really good at that?  Likewise Dillon might be very good at it, too; Dillon with a full head of steam charging into a gap where a defender has been running laterally instead of squaring up, he might actually do really well in those.  And obviously jet-sweep guy is an option in the pass game, where Jones is probably much better than Austin-Ervin-Savage.  

Motion:  MLF could do a lot of motion with those two.  Whether it's one running from side-to-side like jet-sweep guy does, or doing other stuff, motion stuff might enable confusion as to who will and who did get the ball in runs.  

Dillon blocking:  Dillon seems willing, although when he came to camp he wasn't very advanced.  But *IF* he comes out of camp as a polished blocker, his strength and speed might make him pretty good as a move-blocker.  Whether blocking for Jones, or for Adams etc..  *If* Dillon's blocking has improved, I could see him taking on a lot of the H-back type plays.  

2-Back sets:  Dillon-Jones 2-back set worked really well against the Rams.  That could get used a lot more this year.  

Jones as receiver:  In Jones-Dillon sets, Jones might get even more receiver usage than he did last year.  Where he was pretty good.  In some ways, adding him may be more impactful for the passing game than signing a 3rd receiver would have.  

Dillon as receiver:  He didn't look as polished as Jones and Jamaal.  But he did catch some swing passes and get some good yardage.  With a full camp, his receiving capacity might be further advanced?  again, I love a big fast guy like that getting the ball with some space to run and get his momentum built.  The Dillon-Jones combos could provide Dillon some good opportunities, if MLF can design them well.  

Anyway, main point here is that there are more than enough snaps to go around for both Dillon and Jones, there is no need to have either underutilized.  Second, that playing them together a fair bit may not actually compromise or underutilize the passing game.  It may actually help the passing game, both between the balls they themselves can catch; through play-action; through defensive confusion; and through the defense perhaps not being able to switch and optimize personnel groups.   

[Refugee]

2 hours ago, craig said:

Still surprised by the resigning, like many of you.  And not sure it will pay off, beats me.  But as an optimist/positivist, I wanted to process some ideas.  

Dillon-Jones redundant.  Last year, Jones played 539 snaps. Other backs (including Ervin and Austin) combined for a little over 700.  Those combined numbers may increase, since playing Jones and Dillon together might offer more and better options to MLF and Rodgers, and more confusion to defenses.  

Snaps vs effective utilization:  Getting snaps is one thing, being effective is another.  So just having Dillon-Jones each have plenty of snaps doesn't inherently make those all useful.  But, maybe they will be....

Jetsweep:  Not sure it's worthwhile, but Jones could kinda replace all of the jet-sweep snaps taken by Ervin-Austin-Savage, and he's got a chance to be WAY better, and to get way more touches in that role.  Part of the jet-sweep thing isn't running fast, part of it is having time to see what's up with the defense, and knowing when to cut versus sweep, or to fake, etc.  Jones might be really good at that?  Likewise Dillon might be very good at it, too; Dillon with a full head of steam charging into a gap where a defender has been running laterally instead of squaring up, he might actually do really well in those.  And obviously jet-sweep guy is an option in the pass game, where Jones is probably much better than Austin-Ervin-Savage.  

Motion:  MLF could do a lot of motion with those two.  Whether it's one running from side-to-side like jet-sweep guy does, or doing other stuff, motion stuff might enable confusion as to who will and who did get the ball in runs.  

Dillon blocking:  Dillon seems willing, although when he came to camp he wasn't very advanced.  But *IF* he comes out of camp as a polished blocker, his strength and speed might make him pretty good as a move-blocker.  Whether blocking for Jones, or for Adams etc..  *If* Dillon's blocking has improved, I could see him taking on a lot of the H-back type plays.  

2-Back sets:  Dillon-Jones 2-back set worked really well against the Rams.  That could get used a lot more this year.  

Jones as receiver:  In Jones-Dillon sets, Jones might get even more receiver usage than he did last year.  Where he was pretty good.  In some ways, adding him may be more impactful for the passing game than signing a 3rd receiver would have.  

Dillon as receiver:  He didn't look as polished as Jones and Jamaal.  But he did catch some swing passes and get some good yardage.  With a full camp, his receiving capacity might be further advanced?  again, I love a big fast guy like that getting the ball with some space to run and get his momentum built.  The Dillon-Jones combos could provide Dillon some good opportunities, if MLF can design them well.  

Anyway, main point here is that there are more than enough snaps to go around for both Dillon and Jones, there is no need to have either underutilized.  Second, that playing them together a fair bit may not actually compromise or underutilize the passing game.  It may actually help the passing game, both between the balls they themselves can catch; through play-action; through defensive confusion; and through the defense perhaps not being able to switch and optimize personnel groups.   

I think they were already getting some mileage out of the pick your poison with 28 and 33 on the field, it should only get more in sync from here. The two of them obviously bring different styles/talent but Jones doesn’t play weak and AJD doesn’t play slow. 
 

It’s clearly a big part of this offense  and we will bring in another piece plus have some interesting developmental guys. Ben Sirmans is a great teacher so I hope we can run a nuanced, fundamentally sound running game.  Something to look forward to while the MVP can go to work. 

[craig]

Two common arguments are that you can get RB's with mid/late-round picks, so why spend dollars.  And that RB is a position where rookies can play.  

Still, while you can, it doesn't mean you will.  And the rookie-ready thing may be variably untrue.  

Packers have drafted a lot of backs early, mid, and late since Green.  But Jones is the best one we've had.  Most do NOT end up being as good as he has become.  Backs who become Jones-level excellent, or even Jamaal-level good  are still the exception, not super normal. 

Second, it's the exception and not the rule for guys to be complete backs as rookies, particularly in an offense as complex as the Packers.  Ahman Green took a couple of years.  Jones looked promising and instinctive as a rookie runner, but his capacity as a blocker was limited and MM didn't play him much as a result.  Williams wasn't as good as a rookie as he became later.  

So for a win-now team who needs a back to be able to do a lot of different things, the chance of getting a rookie-ready complete guy to replace Jones, particularly with a 3rd-day pick, would have been improbable.  

Obviously we're imperfect, so having an imperfect replacement for Jones might be no worse than having an imperfect DL or CB or WR.  But yeah, it would have been pretty unlikely to be able to snag a 3rd-day back who'd be able to replace all the things MLF wants Jones to be able to do.  

[vegas492]

I still pretty much expect GB to invest a mid to late round pick on a RB.  

I'm a homer here, concerning Jones and Dillon.  Guess I feel like this will be one of the best tandems of running backs in the NFL next year.

I know Dillon isn't a proven commodity in the league yet, but I sure am excited to see him get more touches.  And I'll be very happy when he wears down a defense then Jones hits them with quickness and speed with his fresh legs.

[Gopackgonerd]

12 hours ago, vegas492 said:

I still pretty much expect GB to invest a mid to late round pick on a RB.  

I'm a homer here, concerning Jones and Dillon.  Guess I feel like this will be one of the best tandems of running backs in the NFL next year.

I know Dillon isn't a proven commodity in the league yet, but I sure am excited to see him get more touches.  And I'll be very happy when he wears down a defense then Jones hits them with quickness and speed with his fresh legs.

I just hope Lafleur uses them to their full extent, I get Rodgers is your QB and he changes the plays, but I feel like he needs to get the very most out of them next year. Dillon especially in short yardage situations.

[vegas492]

10 hours ago, Gopackgonerd said:

I just hope Lafleur uses them to their full extent, I get Rodgers is your QB and he changes the plays, but I feel like he needs to get the very most out of them next year. Dillon especially in short yardage situations.

Short yardage situations.  Defense sells out against the run.  Covers the gaps and should have a man free to take down the ball carrier.  Block if right and Dillon can make the last guy miss, or run him over and it's off to the end zone.  Just like against the Titans.

Yes.  More Dillon in short yardage, please.  And goalline. 

The most impressive thing about Dillon to me last year was his ability to cut in small spaces and make guys miss, or only get in a glancing blow.  He isn't just power, he does have some pretty nice feet and vision.