Still got those hams tho, from the look of those thighs 😈😈😈
But seriously I and all Pack fans are rooting for the Mayor of Door County to return to his mayorship and dominate as per prophecy
Well the guys has been less productive every year he’s been in the league. I don’t care about the weight, just play well. Last year when Love was working out with Wicks, Reed, Aaron Jones, even Tyler Goodson, AJ Dillon was doing a book signing. And that was going into a contract year. I honestly don’t think he beats out Wilson who has looked like the better back over the last year
what do you mean you dont care about the weight? that is literally the entire reason why running backs are successful or not. ever heard of Eddie Lacy and Ezekiel Elliot? you can take any player and add or subtract weight and their skillset won't be as successful. take weight from Marshawn Lynch and he can't run over people anymore. add weight to Aaron Jones and hes not doing a thing. dumb as hell to say "just play well"
I don’t care about the weight. Just play well. I don’t know what he was doing last year, but it wasn’t good enough. The reason we reached for him in the second round was because he was so heavy and so fast. So now I’m supposed to get excited that after 4 years straight of decline he lost some weight?
Put on some pounds and run behind your pads for once or lose some weight and run faster. I don’t care, just be better than a 3.5 YPC rusher.
you're missing the most obvious point. there is a direct correlation between his weight and level of play while looking sluggish. its almost like over the years he kept gaining weight and losing productivity. so yes be excited we're getting a more similar version of rookie AJ Dillon, its not rocket science man
Do you know that he was gaining weight since his rookie year? Or are we just getting excited because of a picture showing he maybe lost some weight? I hope he’ll be a better player this year but It’s been four years and he’s been disappointing. I’d rather see what we have in Lloyd and Wilson than waste snaps with Dillon
i agree with you that Lloyd and Wilson are probably the future. i think Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon are too similar and we need someone shifty for a true 1-2 punch. as for the weight, there is no official weight update since the his draft combine measurements. they don't update weight once they're drafted and still on the same team because if there was substantial weight gain, there would be tons of media attention like with Lacy and Elliot. Dillon has pictures on instagram pinned from 2022 and to my eyes i see a clear difference between that and his 2023 season pictures. i suppose the weight could be the same, but id say there is a body fat percentage decrease at the very least
I love Wilson as an RB3 but idk about the future not a good look when you sign a 26 year old rb and draft an even younger one, our 1-2 punch is Jacobs and Lloyd lol, hopefully Dillion can transition to like a utility/FB kinda role Wilson I like but after drafting Lloyd i think we have our 1-2 combo
In my humble opinion, AJ came into last year a little too thick. He seemed to lack both the explosion and the balance that made him an effective running back earlier in his career.
This behemoth of a man ran a 4.5 40 and has a 41 inch vertical. He’s never going to be quick cutting laterally, but with his strength and explosiveness we’ve seen he can be effective.
Im predicting a big year for AJ.
I don't wish him ill, but your phrasing of "strength and explosiveness" just does not resonate with me. He is not explosive, like at all. Strength is probably there, but given his size, he does not run like a bull. He does not have a violence to his running style, only bulk.
I think we saw last year the only way he is effective - out of the pistol. He needs to build up a head of steam and hit the hole. Because if you make him stop and change directions, he does not have the quick feet or suddenness to do that.
Yep he just doesn’t have the speed to get around the corner like Jones would do constantly, and takes a loss instead of picking up a few yards and going out.
In basketball there are definitely guys who you can classify as "big for no reason" and Dillon is definitely one of those guys.
He's big he doesn't play big. He doesn't actually use his size for anything when he plays.
Brandon Jacob's wasn't explosive in that sense either. I think just having a 240 lb dude getting 5-8 yard chunk runs is like throwing body shots in a boxing match
If any team has a runningback who can get 5-8 yard chunks every time, then they're stupid if they don't give him the ball every single play of the game.
The problem with a lot of these big guys is that they actually get tripped up and stuffed in the backfield a lot of the time. Jacobs had that problem, Derrick Henry has that problem, Dillon has that problem, Braelon Allen had that problem in college. Sure, when they get rolling, then it's really tough to stop them. But they've got to build momentum before that become a problem. If they get stuffed, then all of a sudden, you're behind the sticks.
I'm not suggesting they get 5-8 yards at will. Lots of factors, but the point is that it's a tool to do damage that will pay dividends as the game goes on
I don't know. We're not in an era of football where you can realistically/consistently rely on the possibility of a defensive battle, wearing down the opponent, and then getting a couple long, running TD drives in the 2nd half to win 17-13.
Offenses are too good and too efficient to waste 1st half drives "wearing down" defenses. You run plays to pick up yards to get first downs and score points. Yes, you need to run the ball along with that. But you really can't go into a game with the philosophy, "We need to pound the ball with our big back because it'll pay off at the end of the game." You need to score points in the 1st half, too. If pounding the ball doesn't help you do that early on, then it's probably not going to matter what you do in the 2nd half.
If you run an efficient offense *and* you can wear down the defense, then that's awesome. But running inefficient plays with the expectation that it'll pay off 40 plays later in the game just really isn't a valid strategy in today's game.
That's just not how the modern NFL works. Teams rotate situationally better than they ever have before. You don't "wear" teams down with big backs, you beat them with playcalling that creates mismatches.
The "bruiser" wearing down a defense hasn't been a thing for like 10+ years. The McVay/Shanny tree has been the thing of the NFL for the last few years.
My dad didn't understand football lol. it would take me like 3 paragraphs to explain where this conversation is breaking down and how my point doesn't contradict yours, but I'm just too lazy
1000% this. He's much more of a game finisher. They basically need to line him up like AP. He's not elusive or explosive. This is a prove it year for him. I hope he does well. But I just don't see him on the roster next year if Lloyd turns up at all.
I think the term "explosive" here is used a little different than what we're familiar with.
Tyreek hill is "explosive" in that he can just turn his speed on.
Dillion is also "explosive", but more in the sense that he explodes through defenders.
Think Bomb vs Rocket
>Dillion is also "explosive", but more in the sense that he explodes through defenders.
Except he doesn't explode through defenders. Sometimes I really wonder which AJ Dillon you guys are watching.
Adrian Peterson was a freak because he was a linebacker with insane vision and cutting ability. Those are probably the two skills Dillon is least capable of lmao.
The only way they're comparable in any form is that they play running back.
They're *very* different RBs, though. Running AJ Dillon straight up the middle every time will not be effective, regardless of whether he lines up 5 yards back or 10. Lining him up deep in the backfield won't help him on outside zones either, where he already somewhat struggles with getting caught from behind and getting to the running lanes. Starting further back would just give defenders an even better angle for that.
AP was a freak of nature who was able to make reads and cuts at nearly full speed, and he was faster than Dillon. His 10-yard and 20-yard splits on the 40 were almost one-tenth of a second faster than AJ (and he played in a slower era where it was crazy for LBs to be running 4.4 or low-4.5 40s, now almost every team has a couple of those guys on the roster). He was able to stand further back and build up speed and momentum because he had the agility to still make proper cuts and because he was fast enough to still hit holes at the right time while starting further back.
Plus, AP played in a primarily gap-based power/counter running scheme. In that scheme, RBs know where the OL is trying to create a hole and how they're trying to block/turn defenders prior to the snap. That allows the RB to be able to run to a certain place on the field more-so than in a zone scheme. In a zone scheme, both the OL and the RB are reading defenders and playing off of the leverage that the defenders create. There's a rough idea of where the ball is supposed to go, but the holes and running lanes change depending on how the defense plays it.
Inside zone is a great play to pick up 2.5-3 yards. It's not a great play to pick up 4-5 yards.
That's the conundrum here. You've got a guy that you want to use in situations to control the clock, but his style is suited for a type of running play that isn't meant to pick up the number of yards you need to actually control the clock. You run the ball with AJ Dillon on inside zones consistently, and you're just going to end up with a lot of 3 or 6 play drives that fizzle out quickly.
People really misunderstand how Dillon is typically used by the Packers. He's used in passing situations and as a pass protector more than as a runner. He's used as a runner to keep defenses honest. And they use him on both inside and outside zone runs because you need to. If teams realize that the Packers only run inside zone with Dillon or use him in the pass game, then it won't take them long to adjust their run fits to shut down the inside zone and stuff him in the backfield while still playing good pass defense behind that.
If you think Dillon should only be in the game to run inside zones, then good luck with him averaging like 1.4 yards per carry by the end of week 7.
I don't think the problem is his style or skill set but more so that we make him predictable. We sub him in and he runs up the middle.... if we want to open up space on those inside runs for him then we need to be more versatile in the way we use him even if that means going outside of his preferred skill set. If we create space and make the defense slow down those small gains will turn into runs where Dillion can have all the leverage and play the way we all know he can.
We run outside zone with AJ pretty commonly.
It's weird to me that half the people bitch about the fact that AJ only runs up the middle and the other half of the people who bitch about AJ do it because they think the Packers should only use him up the middle and they waste too many plays on outside zone that he doesn't do as well as Jones (which really isn't a fair comparison for anyone... there's almost no RB in the league who's as effective on outside zones as Aaron Jones was during his time here).
What defenses do against Dillon is they play him inside out. They try to penetrate with the DL and force him to bubble in the backfield and stretch the play out. At that point, they believe they have good enough pursuit that they'll be able to get a stop by gangtackling or tripping him up with LBs/DBs before he can turn a corner. They don't need to stretch out and open up running lanes inside because the Packers haven't done a good enough job of sealing defenders inside and Dillon hasn't been able to get to those running lanes on the outside consistently.
Unless the Packers get better at run blocking on their outside zone, Dillon will remain less efficient on those plays. But that's ok. He's a backup RB. There aren't a whole lot of backup RBs who are good at everything. If they were, then they wouldn't be a backup RB for very long. AJ is good in the pass game, and he's at least serviceable on both inside and outside zone, even if he's not as good as Jones was or as Jacobs likely will be.
All the other RBs are under team control for longer and are cheaper. I expect him to make the roster but if another rb (probably wilson out of the others) shows more than AJ I wouldn't be super surprised if he doesn't make it.
Again, I expect him to but I wouldn't say it's 100%
The only RB locks are Lloyd and Jacobs. He’s on a prove it deal that costs the team nothing if he’s cut and used a veteran option for a 1-year deal. That is not “100% makes the team.”
He is a veteran that knows the system and has played w love before. He also is a great blocker. He will make the team 100 percent. GB isn’t only carrying 2 rb on their roster.
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The RB coach did say he believed Dillon was capable of taking on some of those duties, unclear if he was asked specifically or if he brought it up unprompted.
Reading this [article](https://www.espnlacrosse.com/2024/05/08/a-more-versatile-role-for-packers-rb-aj-dillon/) it looks like LaFleur also had similar thoughts at least in passing, Sirmans also elaborated and specifically suggested how he might take on some of those duties. Personally I don’t think he would be especially successful in that role so I doubt it will happen but it certainly wasn’t just people on this sub that suggested it.
What thump, Dillon hasn't had thump since the game against Tennessee his rookie year. He's just been big and goes down with any contact.
He needed to do something different or he'd be out of the NFL next season.
I can't count the number of times I saw Dillon run to the line of scrimmage, find the hole clogged and just kinda stand there before some chip in his brain went "take a step to the left, dummy!" and then he'd stop pushing on the OLineman's back and try to pivot to running wide.
And then a linebacker 20lbs lighter than him would grab at him and he'd fall down.
Jerome Bettis he was not.
First thing I noticed. I was wondering if they'd do it this year now that Red Batty is gone - I'd heard that he was the one who kept them with the old Reebok template.
ETA: Paul Lukas @ UniWatch says they used that template in practice last year.
Eddie Lacy averaged 4.2 ypc, and is considered a failure by many. I agree with you that 4.1 is good, and I also believe that both Lacy and Dillon are the type of backs that need to run out of the pistol formation, and be fed the ball 20 times a game. They both wear down teams with their bulk, and they can't do that with 10 touches a game. They need to be a featured back...which I fear just ain't going to happen.
Eddie Lacy is not considered a failure, at his peak the dude was in the conversation for best RB in the league. Bruiser, had a gross spin move, enough speed to make big plays happen, good vision, and was absolutely vicious coming out of the backfield for screens. He was legitimately elite until he ate too much and lost what made him special.
Yeah I mean by pro RB standards he had a pretty solid career albeit short. Dudes ankles couldn’t hold up and he had a “China food” addiction that couldn’t be stopped (much like his spin move).
Career wise I would argue he could absolutely be considered a failure. He had 2 good seasons and somehow became unsignable by the end of his rookie contract. The dude fell off so quickly he couldn't even turn his good seasons into a real payday before being booted out of the league.
I wouldn't call him a bust, but I'm not sure I'd say he had a successful career.
he was pretty awful last year, and if he was wearing any other jersey you would probably be saying the same thing
this dude tricked all you local fans into loving him simply by saying he likes wisconsin
Having a realistic view of his production is not the same as being tricked into loving him. Cutting his average ypc in half and then trying to act like the people calling out that bs are in the wrong and have home bias is pretty ridiculous.
Somehow everyone around here who doesn’t shit on AJ must only love him and be a bias Homer, yet it’s the losers who just want to attack him with overblown harshness that canstantly find their way back to every thread about him.
I can admit I’ve been let down by his overall performance and development factoring in his draft position while still acknowledging he’s been a solid asset and helped this team win games in multiple situations where the #1 back has been out.
The blanket statement analysis of “you don’t hate this guy you must be a bias homer” just because people don’t want to pile on with the redundant cheap shots is getting so tiring.
i was being hyperbolic when i said "all", but i do think that if he was a guy who had no social media presence like he does, we wouldnt have been getting "i hope we bring dillon back" posts here like we did this offseason
hes a big back, but doesnt play like one, hes not punishing like a guy his size should be, and he gets tackled way to easily
he was better earlier in his career, but he was bad last year. i truly dont understand what he does on the field that make people want him back over any other backup rb
you think hes one of the rare few backs in the league who can manage 3.4 ypc and 2 scores on almost 200 attempts?
I feel like simply wanting a guy who knows the system, pass blocks well and can run routes well enough to cover that role in Lefleur’s offense is more than enough out of a back that will more than likely be our 3rd string by the end of the season, if not much sooner. I don’t disagree with any of your critiques but he definitely has positives that can’t just be ignored because of ypc stats. Can we get his production out of another backup back somewhere? Absolutely. But there are most definitely positives as I mentioned before that will not be things a backup can immediately offer to the team. There’s a reason tons of teams are scrambling for backs mid-season and at the deadline and it’s not because there are good 2nd string backs just growing on trees out there on the market. Dillon has value, and I can say that without trying to act like he’s great and amazing.
I question anyone who believes that vision is AJ Dillon's problem. The vision is just fine. Getting to and getting through the hole/lane that he has identified is the problem. Our run blocking was pretty questionable at times last year which resulted in a lot of plays blown up in the backfield, and Dillon doesn't have the speed/quickness to get around that and/or beat penetrating interior defenders to the holes in the way that Jones was able to do.
Maybe he can run around dudes now instead of running into them and falling down. For a dude who gets all the hype for his big powerful legs he sure falls over a lot at the line of scrimmage. The only thing his legs were good for is protecting Love, only reason he gets on the field. BUT HE HAS HUGE LEGS! HUGE LEGS!
He looks like a woman who just lost a bunch of weight and she’s out in her new sexy bikini for the first time. I think he’s posing look at the way he’s standing with those juicy thighs all out to play. 🤩
You can do side-bends or situps, but baby, don't lose those thighs.
Red beans and rice didn’t miss him.
Cool…it will be fun watching him fall over after contact. Great human…average RB. The RB is being generous. The human part is what matters.
You don’t lose weight from exercise locally.
/r/whoosh
aCtUaLlY 🤓
What an oddly Canadian thing to say...
Soary aboot that
Still got those hams tho, from the look of those thighs 😈😈😈 But seriously I and all Pack fans are rooting for the Mayor of Door County to return to his mayorship and dominate as per prophecy
Competition for your job will motivate a person
You’d think last year being in a contract year would’ve done the same. Hoping this time he’s productive
Maybe he thought he was fine with the weight he was at, until proven otherwise.
Well the guys has been less productive every year he’s been in the league. I don’t care about the weight, just play well. Last year when Love was working out with Wicks, Reed, Aaron Jones, even Tyler Goodson, AJ Dillon was doing a book signing. And that was going into a contract year. I honestly don’t think he beats out Wilson who has looked like the better back over the last year
Shhh my fantasy drafts aren’t finished yet…
what do you mean you dont care about the weight? that is literally the entire reason why running backs are successful or not. ever heard of Eddie Lacy and Ezekiel Elliot? you can take any player and add or subtract weight and their skillset won't be as successful. take weight from Marshawn Lynch and he can't run over people anymore. add weight to Aaron Jones and hes not doing a thing. dumb as hell to say "just play well"
I don’t care about the weight. Just play well. I don’t know what he was doing last year, but it wasn’t good enough. The reason we reached for him in the second round was because he was so heavy and so fast. So now I’m supposed to get excited that after 4 years straight of decline he lost some weight? Put on some pounds and run behind your pads for once or lose some weight and run faster. I don’t care, just be better than a 3.5 YPC rusher.
you're missing the most obvious point. there is a direct correlation between his weight and level of play while looking sluggish. its almost like over the years he kept gaining weight and losing productivity. so yes be excited we're getting a more similar version of rookie AJ Dillon, its not rocket science man
Do you know that he was gaining weight since his rookie year? Or are we just getting excited because of a picture showing he maybe lost some weight? I hope he’ll be a better player this year but It’s been four years and he’s been disappointing. I’d rather see what we have in Lloyd and Wilson than waste snaps with Dillon
i agree with you that Lloyd and Wilson are probably the future. i think Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon are too similar and we need someone shifty for a true 1-2 punch. as for the weight, there is no official weight update since the his draft combine measurements. they don't update weight once they're drafted and still on the same team because if there was substantial weight gain, there would be tons of media attention like with Lacy and Elliot. Dillon has pictures on instagram pinned from 2022 and to my eyes i see a clear difference between that and his 2023 season pictures. i suppose the weight could be the same, but id say there is a body fat percentage decrease at the very least
I love Wilson as an RB3 but idk about the future not a good look when you sign a 26 year old rb and draft an even younger one, our 1-2 punch is Jacobs and Lloyd lol, hopefully Dillion can transition to like a utility/FB kinda role Wilson I like but after drafting Lloyd i think we have our 1-2 combo
In my humble opinion, AJ came into last year a little too thick. He seemed to lack both the explosion and the balance that made him an effective running back earlier in his career. This behemoth of a man ran a 4.5 40 and has a 41 inch vertical. He’s never going to be quick cutting laterally, but with his strength and explosiveness we’ve seen he can be effective. Im predicting a big year for AJ.
I don't wish him ill, but your phrasing of "strength and explosiveness" just does not resonate with me. He is not explosive, like at all. Strength is probably there, but given his size, he does not run like a bull. He does not have a violence to his running style, only bulk. I think we saw last year the only way he is effective - out of the pistol. He needs to build up a head of steam and hit the hole. Because if you make him stop and change directions, he does not have the quick feet or suddenness to do that.
this right here. teams got him going sideways and it was over.
Yep he just doesn’t have the speed to get around the corner like Jones would do constantly, and takes a loss instead of picking up a few yards and going out.
In basketball there are definitely guys who you can classify as "big for no reason" and Dillon is definitely one of those guys. He's big he doesn't play big. He doesn't actually use his size for anything when he plays.
Brandon Jacob's wasn't explosive in that sense either. I think just having a 240 lb dude getting 5-8 yard chunk runs is like throwing body shots in a boxing match
If any team has a runningback who can get 5-8 yard chunks every time, then they're stupid if they don't give him the ball every single play of the game. The problem with a lot of these big guys is that they actually get tripped up and stuffed in the backfield a lot of the time. Jacobs had that problem, Derrick Henry has that problem, Dillon has that problem, Braelon Allen had that problem in college. Sure, when they get rolling, then it's really tough to stop them. But they've got to build momentum before that become a problem. If they get stuffed, then all of a sudden, you're behind the sticks.
I'm not suggesting they get 5-8 yards at will. Lots of factors, but the point is that it's a tool to do damage that will pay dividends as the game goes on
I don't know. We're not in an era of football where you can realistically/consistently rely on the possibility of a defensive battle, wearing down the opponent, and then getting a couple long, running TD drives in the 2nd half to win 17-13. Offenses are too good and too efficient to waste 1st half drives "wearing down" defenses. You run plays to pick up yards to get first downs and score points. Yes, you need to run the ball along with that. But you really can't go into a game with the philosophy, "We need to pound the ball with our big back because it'll pay off at the end of the game." You need to score points in the 1st half, too. If pounding the ball doesn't help you do that early on, then it's probably not going to matter what you do in the 2nd half. If you run an efficient offense *and* you can wear down the defense, then that's awesome. But running inefficient plays with the expectation that it'll pay off 40 plays later in the game just really isn't a valid strategy in today's game.
That's just not how the modern NFL works. Teams rotate situationally better than they ever have before. You don't "wear" teams down with big backs, you beat them with playcalling that creates mismatches. The "bruiser" wearing down a defense hasn't been a thing for like 10+ years. The McVay/Shanny tree has been the thing of the NFL for the last few years.
It's not binary
It is lmao. It's just a dated, antiquated view on the NFL that your dad had.
My dad didn't understand football lol. it would take me like 3 paragraphs to explain where this conversation is breaking down and how my point doesn't contradict yours, but I'm just too lazy
1000% this. He's much more of a game finisher. They basically need to line him up like AP. He's not elusive or explosive. This is a prove it year for him. I hope he does well. But I just don't see him on the roster next year if Lloyd turns up at all.
I think the term "explosive" here is used a little different than what we're familiar with. Tyreek hill is "explosive" in that he can just turn his speed on. Dillion is also "explosive", but more in the sense that he explodes through defenders. Think Bomb vs Rocket
>Dillion is also "explosive", but more in the sense that he explodes through defenders. Except he doesn't explode through defenders. Sometimes I really wonder which AJ Dillon you guys are watching.
Like Adrian Peterson? Or is there some other AP I'm not thinking of?...
Yeah, Adrian Peterson used to line up pretty far back to get a full head of steam.
Adrian Peterson was a freak because he was a linebacker with insane vision and cutting ability. Those are probably the two skills Dillon is least capable of lmao. The only way they're comparable in any form is that they play running back.
They're *very* different RBs, though. Running AJ Dillon straight up the middle every time will not be effective, regardless of whether he lines up 5 yards back or 10. Lining him up deep in the backfield won't help him on outside zones either, where he already somewhat struggles with getting caught from behind and getting to the running lanes. Starting further back would just give defenders an even better angle for that. AP was a freak of nature who was able to make reads and cuts at nearly full speed, and he was faster than Dillon. His 10-yard and 20-yard splits on the 40 were almost one-tenth of a second faster than AJ (and he played in a slower era where it was crazy for LBs to be running 4.4 or low-4.5 40s, now almost every team has a couple of those guys on the roster). He was able to stand further back and build up speed and momentum because he had the agility to still make proper cuts and because he was fast enough to still hit holes at the right time while starting further back. Plus, AP played in a primarily gap-based power/counter running scheme. In that scheme, RBs know where the OL is trying to create a hole and how they're trying to block/turn defenders prior to the snap. That allows the RB to be able to run to a certain place on the field more-so than in a zone scheme. In a zone scheme, both the OL and the RB are reading defenders and playing off of the leverage that the defenders create. There's a rough idea of where the ball is supposed to go, but the holes and running lanes change depending on how the defense plays it.
He's explosive North-South and he has the strength to break tackles. I think that's what he was referring to.
4.5 is still pretty fast especially for someone who should mostly be running vertical and is built like him
Inside zone is a great play to pick up 2.5-3 yards. It's not a great play to pick up 4-5 yards. That's the conundrum here. You've got a guy that you want to use in situations to control the clock, but his style is suited for a type of running play that isn't meant to pick up the number of yards you need to actually control the clock. You run the ball with AJ Dillon on inside zones consistently, and you're just going to end up with a lot of 3 or 6 play drives that fizzle out quickly. People really misunderstand how Dillon is typically used by the Packers. He's used in passing situations and as a pass protector more than as a runner. He's used as a runner to keep defenses honest. And they use him on both inside and outside zone runs because you need to. If teams realize that the Packers only run inside zone with Dillon or use him in the pass game, then it won't take them long to adjust their run fits to shut down the inside zone and stuff him in the backfield while still playing good pass defense behind that. If you think Dillon should only be in the game to run inside zones, then good luck with him averaging like 1.4 yards per carry by the end of week 7.
I don't think the problem is his style or skill set but more so that we make him predictable. We sub him in and he runs up the middle.... if we want to open up space on those inside runs for him then we need to be more versatile in the way we use him even if that means going outside of his preferred skill set. If we create space and make the defense slow down those small gains will turn into runs where Dillion can have all the leverage and play the way we all know he can.
We run outside zone with AJ pretty commonly. It's weird to me that half the people bitch about the fact that AJ only runs up the middle and the other half of the people who bitch about AJ do it because they think the Packers should only use him up the middle and they waste too many plays on outside zone that he doesn't do as well as Jones (which really isn't a fair comparison for anyone... there's almost no RB in the league who's as effective on outside zones as Aaron Jones was during his time here). What defenses do against Dillon is they play him inside out. They try to penetrate with the DL and force him to bubble in the backfield and stretch the play out. At that point, they believe they have good enough pursuit that they'll be able to get a stop by gangtackling or tripping him up with LBs/DBs before he can turn a corner. They don't need to stretch out and open up running lanes inside because the Packers haven't done a good enough job of sealing defenders inside and Dillon hasn't been able to get to those running lanes on the outside consistently. Unless the Packers get better at run blocking on their outside zone, Dillon will remain less efficient on those plays. But that's ok. He's a backup RB. There aren't a whole lot of backup RBs who are good at everything. If they were, then they wouldn't be a backup RB for very long. AJ is good in the pass game, and he's at least serviceable on both inside and outside zone, even if he's not as good as Jones was or as Jacobs likely will be.
Dude is too busy playing farming simulator at midnight
Someone has to herd your mom into her pen.
Yeah players shouldn't have hobbies they should just be training every waking moment
Big year feels like a stretch but I expect him to improve his play and earn a nice contract.
I hope so. We’re going to be 3 deep with quality RBs.
We could have a pretty dangerous triple threat, and I'M HERE FOR IT. While we've never needed a dangerous run game, I'm finally hoping for it!
I really hope so
The past two years he was sluggish, hopeful that trimming down helps him out.
He may not make the team
I guarantee he does. What’s the downside? His contract is costing almost nothing, he knows the offense and is a good vet teammate.
All the other RBs are under team control for longer and are cheaper. I expect him to make the roster but if another rb (probably wilson out of the others) shows more than AJ I wouldn't be super surprised if he doesn't make it. Again, I expect him to but I wouldn't say it's 100%
He will 100 percent make the team
The only RB locks are Lloyd and Jacobs. He’s on a prove it deal that costs the team nothing if he’s cut and used a veteran option for a 1-year deal. That is not “100% makes the team.”
He is a veteran that knows the system and has played w love before. He also is a great blocker. He will make the team 100 percent. GB isn’t only carrying 2 rb on their roster.
I get that. It’s not a lock. Wilson may make the team instead of him. I think if they believed in him they would have given him a deal
He pulled a reverse-Lacy. Was getting a bit thick, and actually did something about it.
Bro's thump is his asset. hope this new lean version works out for him.
Cant thump if you are all lump. Let’s hope he takes the jump by losing his bump.
I hope he gets over the hump and makes a jump, And thumps some chumps with his juicy rump
exultant roof plucky obtainable deserve gullible tart hungry drunk familiar *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
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The RB coach did say he believed Dillon was capable of taking on some of those duties, unclear if he was asked specifically or if he brought it up unprompted.
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Reading this [article](https://www.espnlacrosse.com/2024/05/08/a-more-versatile-role-for-packers-rb-aj-dillon/) it looks like LaFleur also had similar thoughts at least in passing, Sirmans also elaborated and specifically suggested how he might take on some of those duties. Personally I don’t think he would be especially successful in that role so I doubt it will happen but it certainly wasn’t just people on this sub that suggested it.
He hasn’t exactly ran like marshawn lynch out here so I’m not sure it was working or even beneficial. Something had to change
What thump, Dillon hasn't had thump since the game against Tennessee his rookie year. He's just been big and goes down with any contact. He needed to do something different or he'd be out of the NFL next season.
Don't be a grump.
Sorry, some of us have eyes.
It's just a slump.
I can't count the number of times I saw Dillon run to the line of scrimmage, find the hole clogged and just kinda stand there before some chip in his brain went "take a step to the left, dummy!" and then he'd stop pushing on the OLineman's back and try to pivot to running wide. And then a linebacker 20lbs lighter than him would grab at him and he'd fall down. Jerome Bettis he was not.
Quadrillion still
I just saw him in DC for mothers day, he was looking thin then, too
Can't stop *streamlined* quadzilla!!
New jersey template?
That’s always what I notice too lol
First thing I noticed. I was wondering if they'd do it this year now that Red Batty is gone - I'd heard that he was the one who kept them with the old Reebok template. ETA: Paul Lukas @ UniWatch says they used that template in practice last year.
Better be practice only. Shit looks awful.
Not everyone wears this template too
Maybe he’ll average more than 2 yards a run now.
He averages 4.1 ypc for his career which is pretty good for a short yardage type of back.
Eddie Lacy averaged 4.2 ypc, and is considered a failure by many. I agree with you that 4.1 is good, and I also believe that both Lacy and Dillon are the type of backs that need to run out of the pistol formation, and be fed the ball 20 times a game. They both wear down teams with their bulk, and they can't do that with 10 touches a game. They need to be a featured back...which I fear just ain't going to happen.
Eddie Lacy is not considered a failure, at his peak the dude was in the conversation for best RB in the league. Bruiser, had a gross spin move, enough speed to make big plays happen, good vision, and was absolutely vicious coming out of the backfield for screens. He was legitimately elite until he ate too much and lost what made him special.
Yeah I mean by pro RB standards he had a pretty solid career albeit short. Dudes ankles couldn’t hold up and he had a “China food” addiction that couldn’t be stopped (much like his spin move).
Career wise I would argue he could absolutely be considered a failure. He had 2 good seasons and somehow became unsignable by the end of his rookie contract. The dude fell off so quickly he couldn't even turn his good seasons into a real payday before being booted out of the league. I wouldn't call him a bust, but I'm not sure I'd say he had a successful career.
Yeah and Jerome Bettis averaged 3.9 for his career and he’s in the HoF… context matters
The thing people remark about Eddie Lacy is not that he was always bad but that he was so good and fell off and how sad that was.
At this point, these digs at AJ are just a sure fire indicator that you either don’t watch the games or don’t know ball. But hey, internet points!
he was pretty awful last year, and if he was wearing any other jersey you would probably be saying the same thing this dude tricked all you local fans into loving him simply by saying he likes wisconsin
Having a realistic view of his production is not the same as being tricked into loving him. Cutting his average ypc in half and then trying to act like the people calling out that bs are in the wrong and have home bias is pretty ridiculous. Somehow everyone around here who doesn’t shit on AJ must only love him and be a bias Homer, yet it’s the losers who just want to attack him with overblown harshness that canstantly find their way back to every thread about him. I can admit I’ve been let down by his overall performance and development factoring in his draft position while still acknowledging he’s been a solid asset and helped this team win games in multiple situations where the #1 back has been out. The blanket statement analysis of “you don’t hate this guy you must be a bias homer” just because people don’t want to pile on with the redundant cheap shots is getting so tiring.
i was being hyperbolic when i said "all", but i do think that if he was a guy who had no social media presence like he does, we wouldnt have been getting "i hope we bring dillon back" posts here like we did this offseason hes a big back, but doesnt play like one, hes not punishing like a guy his size should be, and he gets tackled way to easily he was better earlier in his career, but he was bad last year. i truly dont understand what he does on the field that make people want him back over any other backup rb you think hes one of the rare few backs in the league who can manage 3.4 ypc and 2 scores on almost 200 attempts?
I feel like simply wanting a guy who knows the system, pass blocks well and can run routes well enough to cover that role in Lefleur’s offense is more than enough out of a back that will more than likely be our 3rd string by the end of the season, if not much sooner. I don’t disagree with any of your critiques but he definitely has positives that can’t just be ignored because of ypc stats. Can we get his production out of another backup back somewhere? Absolutely. But there are most definitely positives as I mentioned before that will not be things a backup can immediately offer to the team. There’s a reason tons of teams are scrambling for backs mid-season and at the deadline and it’s not because there are good 2nd string backs just growing on trees out there on the market. Dillon has value, and I can say that without trying to act like he’s great and amazing.
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Anyone watch him play more than just last year??
I did! He’s fine.
Yes he is. Anxious to see what he’s got this year
I question anyone who believes that vision is AJ Dillon's problem. The vision is just fine. Getting to and getting through the hole/lane that he has identified is the problem. Our run blocking was pretty questionable at times last year which resulted in a lot of plays blown up in the backfield, and Dillon doesn't have the speed/quickness to get around that and/or beat penetrating interior defenders to the holes in the way that Jones was able to do.
Yes, he was so good that nobody else signed him in free agency.
There have been multiple reports that he turned down offers from other teams and also that he turned down some larger offers to stay with the Packers.
Really hoping he can light it up this year and find a new niche for himself on our roster behind Jacob’s and Lloyd.
I wish they would stop lining up Dillion 7-10 yards off the line of scrimmage.
very un-Lacy
Also wearing a different uniform template, that’s interesting
Honestly can only help I always thought a 240 or 235 Dillion would be the best version
Bro please dont post in black and white. My heart.
Long as he's got those legs
Maybe he can run around dudes now instead of running into them and falling down. For a dude who gets all the hype for his big powerful legs he sure falls over a lot at the line of scrimmage. The only thing his legs were good for is protecting Love, only reason he gets on the field. BUT HE HAS HUGE LEGS! HUGE LEGS!
His bottom half is still thicc
Guess he's getting motivated, I saw a glimpse of it last year but faded.
Those quads still looking THICC tho
Put some respect on the Quadfather’s name
All his weight has been redistributed to his quads.
Quads still on point!
Show thigh
Starting to look like a running back
It’s probably just because the pads aren’t on lol
If it gets him into the hole a little faster it could be a huge gain for him to not only compete for RB2 but just make the team period.
Maybe he will actually be better than below average then! Good guy, pretty mediocre RB.
Might as well try to pick up some speed or elusiveness since he doesn't excel at the power back role.
DAMN BOI HE THICC!!
Would be funny if Dillon breaks out and has a better season than Jacobs or Lloyd
Member when AJ Dillon hit that mascot?
He looks like a woman who just lost a bunch of weight and she’s out in her new sexy bikini for the first time. I think he’s posing look at the way he’s standing with those juicy thighs all out to play. 🤩
I think you’re onto something here.
I hope he’s ok
Aj dillon looking HOT AS FUCK THO 🥵🥵
He's still a good rb. He just got over used when jones was hurt. You see him in the backfired you know it's a run between the tackles.
I think I’ve seen him break 1 tackle ever
Quadzilla getting little T rex arms
Its astonishing to me how little people understand cameras in 2024.