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Aaron Jones' first game against the Green Bay Packers this week raises a question worth examining: Where does he rank among the best running backs in team history?

I've been covering the team since 1993 and for my money he's the best back then, just ahead of Ahman Green.

Green was tall, had better straight-line speed and was more of a workhorse – he is the franchise's all-time leading rusher (8,322 yards) and had 1,100 yards or more in five seasons. But Jones was the Packers' most dynamic player with the ball in his hands in at least 30 years, and most likely in the team's history.

Anyone who has watched the Packers regularly over the past seven years knows what a profound impact he had on their offense when healthy, with sharp, explosive cuts that routinely turned no play into anything.

“Different styles,” a longtime NFC team scout said when comparing Jones and Green. “(But) overall, Aaron Jones has a better impact on the game.”

Even now, barely more than two months shy of his 30th birthday, Jones is still a formidable defender. That means general manager Brian Gutekunst, who fired Jones last offseason, could have a tough day on Sunday. Jones is more than capable of having a great game, leading the Vikings to a win at Lambeau Field and allowing Gutekunst to absorb the wrath of fans upset to see Jones in a Vikings jersey instead of on the Packers sideline .

The Vikings are using Jones similarly to the Packers – he's been involved in 59 percent of their offensive snaps through three games, which is about the same amount he played in his four healthiest seasons with the Packers. He is also averaging 18 touches per game, up from an average of 15.6 last season and 16 in 2022.

Jones' averages per carry (5.4 yards) and catch (8.1 yards) are actually a touch higher than his career averages (5.1 yards and 7.7 yards).

But Gutekunst's decision is not difficult to justify. He essentially traded the soon-to-be 30-year-old Jones for 26-year-old free agent Josh Jacobs, at a position where the physical demands affect players more than any other. Both are top-notch defenders, although I would still take Jones any game. When healthy, he is as dangerous as any runner in the league.

But over the course of the season? Jones, who is listed at 208 pounds, has admitted he plays at a little under 200 pounds. He has a long history of knee and hamstring injuries, missed six games last season and turns 30 on Dec. 2, which is ancient for a running back. The question is not whether he will miss any games, but how many? More importantly, will he be healthy and performing in January?

Yes, Jacobs could also get injured, that's the nature of things. But he has a much bigger back (223 pounds) and, at 26, is almost four years younger than Jones. To put it this way: In the Packers' win over Indianapolis in Malik Willis' first start two weeks ago, they asked Jacobs to carry a huge load, and he did so with 32 runs. They could never have ridden Jones like that.

So Jones could make Gutekunst look bad on Sunday. But that doesn't mean the GM made the wrong decision. To determine that, we'll have to wait and see how the next few seasons pan out.

There's no answer to Jones' place in Packers history because of the way the game has changed over the decades.

From the league's early days through the 1960s, halfbacks were valued for their extensive abilities as runners, passers, receivers and even in the kicking game, more than just carrying the ball. Full-back was a completely different position.

The game Jones and Green played is very different. By the late 1980s, the fullback had evolved primarily into a blocker, and over the past 30 years the league has increasingly evolved toward a single runner in the backfield, a running back. In this era, Jones is the Packers' best.

Among halfbacks in team history, the top spot is probably a tie between Verne Lewellen and Paul Hornung. Both were the stars of multiple championship teams and were quadruple threats as runners, passers, receivers and kickers (Lewellen as punter, Hornung as kicker). Lewellen was the star of the first team in NFL history to win three straight titles (1929-31). Hornung was the star of Vince Lombardi's early championship teams.

“The greatest player I ever coached,” is how Lombardi described Hornung in a speech in Oshkosh in 1967, according to Packers historian Cliff Christl.

Johnny “Blood” McNally, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was another halfback who played for the Packers (1929-33 and 1935-36) and is one of their best.

Two other greats, Cecil Isbell and Arnie Herber, were also halfbacks but were the primary passers for their Packers teams.

At fullback, Clarke Hinkle was a two-way star – he played linebacker on defense – whose NFL rushing record stood eight years after his retirement. Lombardi-era Jim Taylor is still the Packers' second all-time rusher. Both are Hall of Famers. And early 1970s John Brockington became the first NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards in his first three seasons. All played at a time when there were usually at least two defenders in the backfield.

One final player who deserves mention is Hall of Famer Tony Canadeo, a halfback who was a good runner between the tackles in the 1940s and early 1950s.

But it's nearly impossible to compare any of these players to Jones and Green. Playing in the backcourt over the last 30 to 35 years is just so much different than it was back then.

But if you're wondering who is the best pure runner with the ball in his hands in Packers history? Hard to say: Aaron Jones.

Malik Willis gives Matt LaFleur game plan options going forward

One game-planning advantage the Packers have gained with Malik Willis in the starting lineup over the last two games is that the defense will have to prepare for a second quarterback even after Jordan Love returns.

The Minnesota Vikings have to do it this week because they don't know whether Love or Willis will be the starter. But even with Love back, there's a chance coach Matt LaFleur will have a package of short-yardage and goal-line plays that take advantage of Willis' running ability, either as the second quarterback on the field or as Love's backup.

“Maybe they'll do it once or twice in a game,” Packers safety Xavier McKinney said of teams using such a package with a running backup quarterback, “but they're going to do it in a big moment, so they have to You do it.” Be prepared because you want to be able to stop in that moment. It can be hard, it can be challenging. I can see how the opposing teams that play against us have to prepare for things like this because they could happen. Definitely a challenge.”

Will LaFleur actually do it? Not much in his past suggests he will — he said he didn't work out for a team that had a specific package for a backup quarterback, although he made Wildcat. He didn't do it with Love as a backup, even though Love is nowhere near the runner Willis.

A lot of coaches around the league won't do it if they have a good starter because they don't want to take the ball out of his hands. But some will do it in part because it forces defenses to put a little more time into game planning and training for it.

The New Orleans Saints have used Taysom Hill effectively in that role since 2018, particularly when Drew Brees was their starter, although Hill is such a versatile player that the Saints have used him at multiple skill positions.

LaFleur, of course, gives no indication as to whether he has such plans for Willis once Love is back in the cast. In most cases, there are good reasons to doubt taking the ball out of the hands of a good quarterback, but in this case it might well be worth doing.

Willis has done enough over the past two weeks to earn LaFleur's trust. Subbing him in for a short yardage or goal line play or two would give the defense another opportunity to think and have a pretty good chance of working out based on what we've seen from Willis in the last two games.

Not surprisingly, love sees no need.

“I think I can do the same thing,” he said this week.

Although Love is a mobile quarterback, he is not a runner like Willis. Love is a tall (6-3¾) long runner who can scramble well enough (4.74 seconds 40). But Willis has the powerful frame of a running back (6-0½, 223) and looks far more explosive as a runner. He didn't hit the 40 for NFL scouts coming out of college in 2022, but one NFL scout said his team estimated Willis' 40 to be in the upper 4.4.

Maybe LaFleur appreciates the extra work and snap training the defense has to put in to prepare for a few Willis plays each week. Even a few minutes in meetings and three snaps on the practice field is time not spent on other things.

On the other hand, he may not want to disrupt the rhythm of his offense and his quarterback by making this type of switch. After all, the Packers made Love one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league for a reason.

Maybe we'll find out what the Packers coach thinks on Sunday.

On By John Fenwick

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