Packers YAC playmakers suddenly become even more vital amid running back uncertainty

Green Bay has the best yards-after-catch tight end in the NFL the last two seasons, and at least two designed touch receivers they like. If the running game isn't working, they are essential.

Even before the Josh Jacobs arrest, Brian Gutekunst made a gamble on his offensive infrastructure. The Green Bay Packers didn’t add even a Day 3 draft pick at running back, even as Jacobs gets close to 30 with a contract in 2027, the Packers might be loath to pay. MarShawn Lloyd, meanwhile, has only a handful more NFL snaps than my toddler, having missed two entire seasons with myriad maladies.

The Packers knew going into the offseason that relying on Lloyd was an enormous risk. But the calculation may have been as simple as the Green Bay front office believing in Matt LaFleur’s offensive architecture, Jordan Love’s mastery of the scheme, and a team built around two types of playmakers: underneath and vertical.

When Gutekunst drafted Jayden Reed, an undersized-for-the-Packers receiver who profiled as a vertical slot player, he immediately brought a skillset the team didn’t have. They could create designed touches for him, low-risk plays that served like running plays, and in some cases were actual running plays, to give him opportunities with the ball in his hand without having to run a route.