Much has been made this week about the Green Bay Packers expectations for AJ Dillon after Ben Sirmans came out and said the running back didn’t have the sort of production they wanted last season. “This wasn’t the type of year and expectations that, not only he had for himself but from what I had for him and what others in this building had for him.” Sirmans said, via NFL.com. “I think that he’s the type of person, at least from what he’s shown me, that he’s going to respond to that challenge and come out and have a much more productive year. And you saw a lot of great things in spurts, but that was just the problem, it was just in spurts. It wasn’t consistent, and that’s what our goal is.”
Peter King of NFL on NBC not only believes Dillon will bounce back, but that the sky is the limit for the Packers run game.
“Look at the offense that they’re going to have to run. It’s no longer dishing out the game plan on Wednesday and handing it to everybody virtually in their tablets. It isn’t only looking at the game plan and saying well how is Aaron Rodgers gonna win this game for us this week. This is more of, in my opinion, a really complete team that is going to have to rely on the running game. And Mike, I would not be surprised at all if the Green Bay Packers are a top three, maybe even top one rushing team. We always think about the Baltimore Ravens, we think about the Steelers, we think about some of the really good running teams. And I look at it in a way that I think this is going to be a much more egalitarian offense for the Green Bay Packers this year than it has been in the past.”
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk couldn’t have agreed more.
“I agree with you completely and that takes the pressure off Love and allows for more pressure to be put on the defense when they don’t know where it’s coming from. A run, short passing game, deep passing game they’ve got all the weapons to make it work it’s just a matter of cooking it up and making it happen.”
This is exactly what so many of us around the team have said for so long. Matt LaFleur‘s ability to cultivate his offense the way he wants this season will be crucial. We have never seen him get to do exactly what he wants to do. And that’s been a great thing. He and Aaron Rodgers had a fantastic run together. But it’s time to see what Lafleur can do.
Perhaps, it fails. But perhaps we learn that a more San Francisco style approach would benefit the rest of the offense, and the team in general, more than how things transpired last year.
There’s so much youth on this roster. The front office is insistent on letting guys get reps and develop. It will be fascinating to see the run game lead this team. King is correct, there is top of the league potential here. If the Packers have that, it makes everyone else’s job easier, especially all their new starters and young weapons.
It’s interesting to watch the national pundits slowly come around on Green Bay. Throughout the Aaron Rodgers drama and trade negotiations, there was so much discussion about where the team would be without the Hall of Famer. As the dust settles it becomes more and more clear to anyone who’s paying attention that there’s a reason to believe this team might be better than a lot of people originally thought.
Despite generally being a Packer hater, Florio’s entire segment with King on the Packers was fantastic. Click here to watch them discuss Love, Clements, Dillon and other topics.
