Getty Green Bay Packers RB Aaron Jones
Aaron Rodgers sees the impact Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Jones has with the ball in his hands. Not only does the running back make the team’s offense better as a whole, but it makes Rodgers’ life easier as well by forcing defenses to respect the run. In turn, the Packers All-Pro quarterback wants to see Jones receive an even larger workload.
As Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette revealed, Rodgers spoke about Jones while praising him as a player and pointing to more opportunities.
Aaron Rodgers thought RB Aaron Jones not only helped offense pick up 1st downs, but that he was especially useful in the red zone. #Packers scored 4 red-zone TDs vs. Dolphins. Jones had half of them. “He’s a great player. We just need to continue to give him more opportunities.”
Although these comments aren’t surprising, they likely bode well moving forward for both Jones and the Packers offense as a whole. Even going beyond that, this is great news for fantasy football players who have the 23-year-old back on their roster. Jones has set season-highs in touches in each of the past three games, totaling 14, 16 and 18 and Rodgers’ comments bode well for that number to stay high or even increase.
In turn, also positively influencing his fantasy outlook in the process.
Aaron Jones’ Fantasy Football Outlook Moving Forward
Jones has averaged at least 5.1 yards per carry in every game this season, so the Packers opting to give him 12-plus carries in each of past three games makes sense. His performance in the Week 10 win over the Miami Dolphins was exceptional, as he rushed for 145 yards on 15 carries (9.7 yards per attempt) while catching three passes for 27 yards.
One big number that jumped out this week was Jones’ snap count. As Football Outsiders shows, he played 74 percent of the team’s offensive snaps against the Dolphins while Jamaal Williams was on the field for 25 percent. These numbers are up quite a bit from the 58-42 percent split in Week 9.
Jones is trending up and doing so at a rapid rate. If things continue in this direction, he’ll become an intriguing fantasy keeper league option. More importantly, the Packers new lead back has the potential to help push you towards a championship run to wrap up the season.
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