{"id":73325,"date":"2025-05-23T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/73325\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:56:15","slug":"dont-forget-about-matt-lafleurs-new-toy-marshawn-lloyd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/73325\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Forget About Matt LaFleur\u2019s “New” Toy MarShawn Lloyd"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Packers got some fun new toys after drafting Matthew Golden<\/a> and Savion Williams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 2024 offense had its moments, but the Packers didn\u2019t have the glow-up we expected after the 2023 squad ended the season red hot. Drops plagued the unit all season, and missing Christian Watson<\/a> means the 2025 group won\u2019t have its best speedster and man-beater.<\/p>\n

Green Bay\u2019s new toys should help with some of those issues.<\/p>\n

The Packers have another new toy that can elevate the offense, but it isn\u2019t one of the 2025 rookies.<\/p>\n

Despite the deep running back class, the Packers didn\u2019t take a back in April. Instead, they\u2019ll get a fully healthy MarShawn Lloyd<\/a>, last year\u2019s third-round pick.<\/p>\n

A plethora of injuries<\/a> turned Lloyd\u2019s rookie season into a redshirt year. But with running backs coach Ben Sirmans claiming<\/a> Lloyd is \u201cfull go,\u201d he\u2019ll get a chance to elevate the offense as another new toy.<\/p>\n

Josh Jacobs<\/a> was the best part of Green Bay\u2019s offense last season. He became a touchdown monster with 15 on the ground and one through the air (his first!). His 1,329 rushing yards were the second-highest of his career, only trailing his league-leading 2020 season. Jacobs gave Matt LaFleur a powerful and durable back, something the team lacked in past years. As a result, LaFleur included more power-running concepts into his offense.<\/p>\n

Still, the run-blocking didn\u2019t do Jacobs many favors. While the Packers got some nice help from Emanuel Wilson<\/a> and Chris Brooks<\/a>, Jacobs didn\u2019t have a true running mate.<\/p>\n

The Packers remodeled their offensive line, signing Aaron Banks<\/a> to a megadeal<\/a>. Banks is a bigger guard who PFF graded<\/a> better in run blocking than pass protection.\u00a0They\u2019ll hope\u00a0Elgton Jenkins<\/a>\u00a0moves to center, and getting Jordan Morgan<\/a>\u00a0and rookie\u00a0Anthony Belton<\/a> in the lineup will also help improve the run blocking.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a good situation for Lloyd to (literally) get behind.<\/p>\n

Lloyd brings a lot to the table that the rest of the running back group doesn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

Despite his shorter stature, he\u2019s solid at 220 lbs. Lloyd\u2019s best traits are his ability to break tackles, his change of direction ability, and his catching ability (he averaged 17.8 yards per reception in his final collegiate season).<\/p>\n

With Jacobs bringing the power, Lloyd can be the speedy back while still having some power. There\u2019s room in the passing game for the running backs, a situation in which he\u2019s had proven success. Jacobs is best as a north-south back, and Lloyd can excel at getting to the edge and using that speed.<\/p>\n

While viewed as a high-to-middle-round player, many thought the Packers got a steal taking Lloyd in the third round. Daniel Jeremiah<\/a> believed the Packers got the best back in the 2023 draft, and others agreed.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t see much of that hype in his rookie season. After turning heads in training camp, an injury kept Lloyd out of most of the preseason. He played in just one regular-season game, carrying the ball only six times as a rookie, racking up 15 yards and a three-yard reception.<\/p>\n

An ankle sprain sidelined him until November before he dealt with season-ending appendicitis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, as a third-round pick, Green Bay\u2019s draft investment in him means they\u2019ll give him a solid workload this summer. And the Packers passed on taking a running back in this gifted draft class, showing they still believe Lloyd is a major part of their future.<\/p>\n

When asked about Lloyd, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said, \u201cHe\u2019s got the speed, he\u2019s got the size, I\u2019m excited to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training camp and the preseason will be a great audition for the second-year back. It\u2019s hard to see Jacobs playing much in the preseason, allowing Lloyd to be the RB1 this summer. His injuries shouldn\u2019t create long-term issues, so he\u2019ll be an exciting player if he\u2019s fully recovered.<\/p>\n

All eyes will be on the two new wide receivers. Golden\u2019s otherworldly speed and Williams\u2019 unique skillset should elevate the offense early. But don\u2019t forget about Lloyd. He might not be from this recent draft class, but he\u2019s essentially a new weapon LaFleur will hope can make an impact early.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Packers got some fun new toys after drafting Matthew Golden and Savion Williams. The 2024…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,5393,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-73325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-greenbay","12":"tag-greenbaypackers","13":"tag-marshawn-lloyd","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114558205117448810","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}