A combination of staying healthy and new opportunities in a new scheme helped Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones nearly double his number of touches during the 2019 season.
Jones went from 133 rushes, 26 catches and 159 total touches over 12 games in 2018 to 236 rushes, 49 catches and 285 total touches over 16 games in 2019.
In 2018, Jones played in 12 games and made just eight starts while splitting the load more evenly with sidekick Jamaal Williams. In 2019, Jones played in every game and started all 16 games while handling a bigger chunk of the workload.
In terms of per-game touches, Jones went from 11.1 rushes and 2.1 catches per game in 2018 to 14.8 rushes and 3.1 catches in 2019. Jones averaged 13.3 touches per game in 2018 compared to 17.8 touches per game in 2019.
In November, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the Packers wanted to get Jones 15-20 touches every game. They accomplished the task in only 10 of 16 games, but Jones did have 20 or more touches in six of the 10 games. Only once, during a blowout loss in Los Angeles, did Jones have fewer than 10 touches (nine).
Jones was one of only 18 running backs in the NFL to have 10 or more games with 15 or more touches.
Overall, only nine players handled more touches than Jones’ 285 in 2019.
| Player | Games | Touches | Touches/Game |
| Christian McCaffrey | 16 | 403 | 25.2 |
| Ezekiel Eliott | 16 | 355 | 22.2 |
| Leonard Fournette | 15 | 341 | 22.7 |
| Nick Chubb | 16 | 334 | 20.9 |
| Derrick Henry | 15 | 321 | 21.4 |
| Chris Carson | 15 | 315 | 21.0 |
| Joe Mixon | 16 | 313 | 19.6 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 15 | 311 | 20.7 |
| Dalvin Cook | 14 | 303 | 21.6 |
| Aaron Jones | 16 | 285 | 17.8 |
Jones’ average touches per game are still a tick lower than everyone else on the list, meaning there’s probably even more growth opportunity as he approaches his second season in Matt LaFleur’s offense in Green Bay.
LaFleur made it clear he wanted to split the workload at running back in an effort to keep Jones healthy and fresh all season. It worked.
Helping keep Jones involved was his emergence in the passing game. He caught 49 passes, or 23 more than his previous career-high, and his 68 targets in 2019 nearly doubled the 35 he saw in 2018.
Coming into the 2019 season, Jones had zero career games with 20 or more rushes. He had three this year, including both games against the Minnesota Vikings.
Overall, Jones went from playing 35 percent of the offense’s snaps in 2018 to 62 percent in 2019.
Williams’ workload stayed steady. He handled 148 touches in 2018 and 146 in 2019, even though he played roughly 150 fewer snaps this season (522 in 2018, 373 in 2019).
