Josh Jacobs was pretty good the first half of the last season. His 11 touchdowns were 2nd only to Jonathan Taylor. Sadly, that hot start just highlights how poor he was down the stretch.
Looking at the second half of the year, Jacobs (who missed 2 games entirely and played hurt or left early in others) was a disaster. Among backs who had significant roles in at least 7 games, the guys to put up worse per-game numbers (PPR) were either in committees or had no passing game role. Jacobs wasn't even a top-20 running back over that time period.
| RUNNING BACKS, 2ND HALF OF 2025 (PER GAME) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Run | No | Rec | TD | PPR |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 9 | 74.7 | 5.3 | 46.6 | 1.22 | 24.8 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 8 | 75.8 | 5.1 | 37.3 | 1.13 | 23.2 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 9 | 98.1 | 4.2 | 39.7 | .81 | 22.9 |
| DeVon Achane, Mia. | 7 | 106.3 | 3.4 | 30.6 | .71 | 21.4 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 8 | 74.9 | 4.5 | 29.5 | 1.00 | 20.9 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 9 | 107.3 | 1.0 | 11.6 | 1.11 | 19.6 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 8 | 86.3 | 2.4 | 20.0 | .75 | 17.5 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 9 | 83.8 | 2.2 | 21.2 | .78 | 17.4 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 6 | 54.0 | 2.7 | 29.3 | 1.06 | 17.3 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 9 | 56.6 | 1.9 | 20.1 | 1.11 | 16.2 |
| Kenneth Gainwell, Pitt. | 9 | 35.2 | 5.1 | 40.8 | .56 | 16.0 |
| RJ Harvey, Den. | 7 | 46.6 | 3.1 | 25.9 | .86 | 15.5 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 9 | 74.0 | 1.8 | 12.8 | .78 | 15.1 |
| Tyrone Tracy, NYG | 8 | 70.4 | 2.9 | 25.1 | .38 | 14.7 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | 9 | 54.2 | 3.9 | 23.7 | .44 | 14.3 |
| TreVeyon Henderson, N.E. | 5 | 70.6 | 1.2 | 8.2 | .80 | 13.9 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phi. | 8 | 77.6 | 1.6 | 14.3 | .42 | 13.3 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | 9 | 69.2 | 1.8 | 11.9 | .56 | 13.2 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 9 | 61.6 | 2.1 | 15.6 | .56 | 13.2 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | 9 | 55.6 | 1.4 | 9.7 | .78 | 12.6 |
| Javonte Williams, Dall. | 7 | 69.3 | 1.4 | 6.3 | .57 | 12.4 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 8 | 60.5 | 1.9 | 21.5 | .38 | 12.3 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | 8 | 75.3 | 1.8 | 7.9 | .38 | 12.3 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 9 | 61.7 | 2.3 | 22.4 | .22 | 12.1 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 7 | 56.4 | 1.9 | 11.1 | .57 | 12.0 |
| Rico Dowdle, Car. | 8 | 42.6 | 3.0 | 20.6 | .25 | 10.8 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 8 | 51.1 | 2.6 | 15.0 | .25 | 10.7 |
| Quinshon Judkins, Cle. | 7 | 48.7 | 2.0 | 15.9 | .33 | 10.5 |
| Woody Marks, Hou. | 8 | 57.8 | 1.4 | 5.4 | .25 | 9.2 |
Jacobs will be ranked conservatively this year. He's a 28-year-old with a lot of mileage, and has probably played his best football.
All that being said, let's not totally write him off. Green Bay let the biggest threat to his workload, Emanuel Wilson, go in free agency. MarShawn Lloyd has shown nothing as a pro. Chris Brooks has flashed some potential at times, but he has a total of 82 NFL carries in three seasons. Jacobs should get the chance to rebound (even while he seems iffy to actually do it).
I'm not targeting Jacobs, given his terrible second half, but I'll take a chance if he falls too far, protecting that pick with Brooks in a very late round. I have a feeling the cost to roster him will be far lower than it was a year ago. As it should be.
--Andy Richardson
