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The Green Bay Packers - as long as they have Aaron Rodgers - will never be a team that features its running game as the primary method for moving the football. Rodgers' presence, his synergy with head coach Mike McCarthy, and the consistent quest to provide the two with receiving weapons dictates that the team be built around the right arm of number 12.
Still, the ability to run the football effectively is a valuable tool to help take some pressure off Rodgers and to force defenses to align in favorable formations for the team to attack through the air. Meanwhile, stopping the run with a six-man front, as the Packers did so well early last season, allows the defense to be more effective at getting after the quarterback.
This offseason, the Packers' front office has bolstered the team's capability to slow down the run game of the opposition with a key veteran signing. However, a look through the numbers from last season helps to illustrate just how far the team needs to go in the running game on offense, and there is no question that there will be some more bodies at the running back position by the time practices begin in May.
In today's curds, we examine the running game from a few different angles, in addition to presenting some other news from this week's league meetings.
Ted Thompson knows the Packers need more RBs | Packers Wire
Thompson's comment was simple, as he acknowledged that "we need some more guys" at the position. That certainly will be necessary to split up the reps in OTAs and training camp, but the overall talent level could use a boost as well.
Fun with YPC -- a deep dive on an incomplete statistic | PFF
The Packers' run blocking looks pretty rough, as the team was the worst in the league in yards per carry before contact. However, the difference between Ty Montgomery's YPC and his teammates was the biggest in the NFL, illustrating how brutal the Packers' backup runners were in 2016.
The Packers have big plans for their tight ends | Packers.com
Having three veteran players at the position will allow the Packers to do all sorts of creative things on offense, including helping out in run blocking; Mike McCarthy is surely excited about his new weapons. Also, as Ted Thompson noted, Martellus Bennett apparently gives the team's offseason basketball team a new star.
Green and Bold: Ricky Jean Francois Keeps a Strength a Strength | CheeseheadTV.com
The argument here is that the addition of RJF will help maintain the Packers' strong run defense, which faltered around midseason but still finished in the top 10 overall.
Replay rules change pleases Packers' Murphy | Packersnews.com
This is an interesting nugget - Mark Murphy was the person who formally proposed the change to centralize replay decisions during the owners meetings this week. It makes sense though, since Murphy is on the Competition Committee and that group was the one to submit the proposal.
NFL's Color Rush uniforms aren't going anywhere - SBNation.com
Washington withdrew the proposal to eliminate the Color Rush program, which means that the Packers will likely be wearing all-whites again (or perhaps all-green uniforms) at some point in 2017.