A.J. Dillon Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero now reports that Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) will be inactive for tonight's game vs. the Raiders. Green Bay has a Week 6 bye, so Jones will get two full weeks to get that hamstring right. RB A.J. Dillon becomes a slightly better fantasy option tonight with Jones out, but he totaled just 96 scoreless yards in two games without Jones earlier this season. We just updated the Week 5 projections for the Packers backfield.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero tweets that Packers RB Aaron Jones' status for tonight's game vs. the Raiders "remains up in the air" but adds that, "it sounds unlikely he’ll go." Jones returned from his hamstring injury last week but played just 20 snaps. He was limited in practice all this week and is listed as questionable. We'll get Green Bay's inactives around 7 pm ET. Jones' absence would leave the backfield to A.J. Dillon and Patrick Taylor. Dillon bombed in Jones' absence earlier this season and played only 10 more snaps than Taylor in Week 3.

RB Aaron Jones, like the entire Packers offense, struggled to get going in Thursday night's loss to the Lions. Green Bay finished with only 53 plays and 10 RB carries, as they played from multiple scores behind for the final three quarters. Jones garnered five of those carries but could only grind out 18 yards. He was crunched for a four-yard loss on his only reception of the night. Jones wound up getting out-snapped 38 to 20 by backfield mate A.J. Dillon, but that was very likely due to Jones coming back from that hamstring injury and the scoreboard. The good news is that Jones seemingly avoided a setback. Expect him to be back in the lead role in a plus Week 5 matchup vs. the Raiders. It's a good bounce-back opportunity for Jones and the Packers.

Packers RB AJ Dillon got another chance to lead the backfield Sunday, with Aaron Jones (hamstring) inactive. For the second straight week, he failed to take advantage. Dillon gained just 33 yards on 11 carries, trailing QB Jordan Love (39 yards) for the team rushing lead. Dillon also got frozen out of the passing game, watching Patrick Taylor (4) and Emanuel Wilson (1) split the backfield targets. Dillon is droppable in many fantasy football leagues. Check our updated rest-of-season rankings Tuesday, ahead of your league's waiver run.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Saints. He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday, so a Week 4 return seems likely. A.J. Dillon will again serve as Green Bay’s lead back today after handling 15 carries and one target last week.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) remained sidelined for Wednesday's practice. That's not a good start for his chances of returning for this weekend's game vs. the Saints. We'll update Jones' status again tomorrow.

Packers RB A.J. Dillon posted 55 rushing yards on 15 carries in Week 2’s loss vs. the Falcons. He also added a single catch on his lone target for 8 yards. Green Bay was without starter Aaron Jones (hamstring) for this contest. Though Dillon didn’t have a massive scoring output, he seized 76.1% of the Packers’ RB touch opportunities on Sunday. Should Jones miss another game, fantasy managers can feel comfortable knowing that Dillon would likely be treated as a workhorse back again. Keep an eye on injury reports in the coming days to see if we’ll have Jones back for Week 3 vs. the Saints.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Falcons. We’ll see if he can make it back for Week 3. A.J. Dillon steps in as Green Bay’s lead back today, with RB Patrick Taylor behind him. Green Bay will also be without LT David Bakhtiari today.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) is not expected to play vs. the Falcons today, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. That's not a surprise after Jones missed practice all week. His absence will leave A.J. Dillon as Green Bay's lead back -- and a volume-based RB2 in fantasy lineups.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) did not practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Falcons. The veteran could probably play despite not practicing, but he should be on fantasy benches for now. We'll look for further updates on Jones and will get Green Bay's inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday. If Jones is inactive, A.J. Dillon will be a volume-based RB2 play.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) missed his second straight practice on Thursday. He's now looking unlikely to play vs. the Falcons this weekend, which would leave RB A.J. Dillon as Green Bay's likely workhorse. We just removed Jones and bumped Dillon way up the Week 2 RB Rankings.

Packers RB Aaron Jones (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. He downplayed the injury after the Week 1 win, but he's certainly not a lock to play vs. the Falcons this Sunday. Jones' absence would turn A.J. Dillon into Green Bay's feature back. Check back tomorrow for another update on Jones.

Packers RB Aaron Jones had himself a Sunday, logging 126 total yards on 10 touches vs. the Bears. The veteran recorded 41 rushing yards on 9 carries with 1 TD. The bulk of his damage came through the air, however. Jones finished Week 1’s victory with 2 catches for 86 yards, including a 51-yard TD off a screen pass in the third quarter. Teammate A.J. Dillon fared much worse, tallying a poor 19 yards on 13 carries. It’s unreasonable to expect Jones to be that efficient on his touches moving forward. Even so, he performed considerably better than Dillon on fewer touches and will look to continue these efforts next Sunday against a Falcons defense that surrendered 167 total yards to Panthers’ RBs in Week 1.

Packers WR Romeo Doubs (hamstring) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Bears. He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday. Even if Doubs ends up active on Sunday, he’ll be at risk of reduced snaps and reinjury. We’d try not to use him in Week 1 fantasy lineups. With WR Christian Watson (hamstring) out, WR Jayden Reed and TE Luke Musgrave should see increased target shares. But we’re expecting a run-heavy attack from Green Bay, featuring RBs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.

Packers WRs Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs missed Wednesday's practice with hamstring injuries. Doubs has been sidelined for close to two weeks now, but it's unclear when Watson got hurt. Their absences vs. the Bears this weekend would leave rookies Jayden Reed and Luke Musgrave as Green Bay's top two pass-catchers -- and likely mean heavy doses of RBs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.

Beat writer Bill Huber believes the Packers “might want to lean more on [Aaron] Jones” in 2023. Huber cites the transition to QB Jordan Love and the trust from HC Matt LaFleur. “[I] can’t say enough great things about him, just the man he is, the player he is, the son he is, the father he is,” LaFleur said of Jones last month. “He’s definitely, I’ll throw it out there... he’s one of my favorites.” Jones, who turns 29 in December, played all 17 games last season. He approached a career-high with 272 touches and did set a personal best in Pro Football Focus rushing grade (91.0, 2nd-best among RBs). Current Draft Sharks projections have the Packers at a balanced 54% pass rate; 46% run rate. Jones checks in as a top-20 option on the RB rankings.

Packers beat writer Bill Huber believes the team’s O-line enters training camp in “fine form.” Green Bay’s projected starters — save for LT David Bakhtairi — played together over the final nine games of last season. We’ll keep an eye on the health of Bakhtiari, nearly 32, but this unit looks like a positive for Jordan Love and the run game. Green Bay ranked top-8 last year in pass and run-block win rate, an ESPN metric. See where Love slots in our QB rankings.

Packers RB coach Ben Sirmans gave his assessment of A.J. Dillon’s 2022 season. Dillion wasn’t anything special efficiency-wise (4.1 yards per carry; 7.4 per catch) but tallied a career-high seven rushing TDs. "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. "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.” Dillion’s 10.9 rushes per game could increase slightly, depending on the performance of Jordan Love. If Aaron Jones remains healthy, though, it’ll be tough to count on the fourth-year back as anything more than a low-end RB2/FLEX.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Packers and RB Aaron Jones have agreed to a restructured contract, shifting most of his 2023 money to a signing bonus. That keeps Jones with the teams "instead of being released," in Schefter's words. That's what makes this deal significant. Of course, staying in Green Bay will likely find Jones playing with a new QB (Jordan Love). What will moving on from Aaron Rodgers mean for the offense and Jones' production? That's nearly impossible for anyone to know at this point. Rodgers has been the starter since 2008, long before Jones arrived. The 2023 Packers figure to lean on their backfield quite a bit, though. Even with Rodgers still around in 2022, the offense dipped to 18th in neutral pass rate (according to RBSDM.com) from 11th in 2021. The shift from Rodgers to Love, however, could ding Jones' target count (Love will likely run more) and the team's TD efficiency. Fortunately, early best-ball drafts are discounting the Packers RB. He sits 20th at the position in Underdog ADP, going in Round 6 on average. Go ahead and get some shares of him at that price.