The Green Bay Packers have a surplus of young talent on the offensive side of the ball. It's a blessing on the whole, but it could leave certain veterans with the short end of the stick.
Though Green Bay lost former starting running back Aaron Jones in free agency, they quickly replaced him with former Las Vegas Raiders star Josh Jacobs, who appears poised to get the bulk of the carries for the Packers this season.
Behind Jacobs, the picture gets murkier. Third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd and fifth-year veteran AJ Dillon, who re-signed in Green Bay in free agency after Lloyd had already been drafted, appear to be jockeying for position.
Competition is always a theme of training camp in the National Football League. And one football writer believes one of those backup Packers running backs could be in line for a surprise roster cut.
Fansided's Cody Williams predicted that if the Packers have all their running backs healthy, Dillon will be cut before the start of the regular season.
"The MarShawn Lloyd injury suffered in the first week of the preseason could absolutely complicate things when it comes to veteran AJ Dillon," Williams said. "If everyone is healthy, it makes far more sense to keep Wilson and Lloyd than it does Dillon."
Lloyd, a rookie out of the University of Southern California, went down after just one carry with a hamstring injury in the Packers' preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. But the 23-year-old impressed with his power-speed combo throughout training camp.
Dillon, 26, is coming off an underwhelming season where he set a career-low in yards per rushing attempt, just 3.4. With 2,428 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns in his four-year career, Dillon has been a useful backup for Green Bay, but never close to a star.
Most teams carry at least three running backs on the active roster anyway, so perhaps it is premature to say Dillon's roster spot is definitively in jeopardy. But unlike the past three seasons, when Dillon was the obvious second option, the pecking order is up in the air.
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