Green Bay Packers

Former Southern California and South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd is viewed as a top-five running back in the 2024 NFL Draft class, and NFL insider Tom Pelissero believes he could be the first ball carrier selected. The 23-year-old missed his entire freshman season at South Carolina with a torn ACL and handled just 196 touches for 1,021 yards and 12 total touchdowns over his next two seasons. He transferred to Southern Cal for the 2023 campaign and posted 820 rushing yards (7.1 YPC), 232 receiving yards (17.8 YPR), and nine total touchdowns. He turned heads at the 2024 NFL Combine with a 4.46 forty-yard dash time at 220 pounds, and in a weak running back draft class, that might have been enough to push him into the RB1 spot for some NFL squads.

The Green Bay Packers re-signed exclusive-rights free-agent running back Emanuel Wilson to an undisclosed deal on Monday. Wilson entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Fort Valley State in 2023 with the Packers and had 14 carries for 85 yards and caught four of five targets for 23 additional yards in seven regular-season games (zero starts) in his rookie campaign. Barring injuries to the team's running back room, the 24-year-old should be in line for a similar depth role behind backs Josh Jacobs and AJ Dillon in 2024, making him pretty useless to begin the year in fantasy circles. Wilson is currently the team's No. 3 RB, but that could change, depending on what the Packers do at the position in the upcoming NFL draft.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is anticipated to earn a new contract. Not only that, his new deal is expected to make him one of the NFL's highest-paid signal-callers. Of course, there are details both sides need to work out, although more intense discussions may not come until after the 2024 NFL Draft. The 25-year-old had some rough showings during the 2023-24 campaign. However, he still ended the year by throwing for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Love also led the Packers to the playoffs, with the team losing to the 49ers by three points during the NFC Divisional Round. While Green Bay's offense will look somewhat different come Week 1, Love easily has a top-10 fantasy upside, and it's also possible he will enter the elite quarterback conversation soon, assuming he hasn't already.

The Green Bay Packers feel that they have a better grasp of where wide receiver Christian Watson (hamstring) stands after he underwent a body scan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this offseason with the hope of preventing future flare-ups. Watson has battled hamstring injuries in both of his two seasons in the NFL, with the 6-foot-4, 208-pounder missing eight games in 2023, playing just 446 offensive snaps. It hasn't just been hamstring injuries for the 24-year-old, and he's played in only 23 games in his first two seasons to quickly develop an injury-prone label. But when healthy, he's caught 69 of 119 targets for 1,033 yards and 12 touchdowns, adding two rushing scores. There's intriguing upside given the nature of Green Bay's improving offense under quarterback Jordan Love, but Watson's durability makes him a risk/reward fantasy selection heading into his third year.

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur implied that we'll see more of new running back Josh Jacobs in the passing game than the 40 catches per year he averaged in five seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. "Just studying him, I think there's more out there for him in regards to the passing game, using him out of the backfield. He's put some really good choice routes on tape. That's something we always try to get to," LaFleur said. Despite Jacobs ranking second in carries since entering the NFL behind only Derrick Henry, don't expect that to change how the Packers split carries in their backfield with AJ Dillon re-signing. However, there's a possibility Dillon doesn't make the team, so Jacobs' spot as the feature back is about the only sure think in Green Bay's backfield. Even if Jacobs losing carries to Dillon or another back in Green Bay, his increase in receptions should keep him afloat as an RB1 in fantasy in his new home.