Fantasy Football: Aaron Jones is No RB1

In week 5 of the 2019 NFL season, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones WENT OFF. In the 34-24 victory against the Dallas Cowboys, the former Texas Longhorn managed to gain 182 yards on 26 touches; Jones scored 4 touchdowns in the process. Fantasy owners across the land rejoiced as Jones scored 49.20 PPR points. “The Packers finally have a great running back and he is on my team!” Not so fast.

People may have been expecting Jones to take off after his performance, but it was easy to forget that his teammate Jamaal Williams missed the game with a concussion. Williams, 24, has his own role in Green Bay’s offense and head coach Matt LaFluer reiterated that earlier in the season. So even though Jones looked like the best running back in the league in week 5, that did not change LaFluer’s view on the backfield. That is especially evident with the fantasy performances of both Jones (8.0) and Williams (23.6) on Monday night against the Detroit Lions.

With Williams back in the fold Jones’ value is somewhat unpredictable. Is he going to be the one to score? Is Williams getting the goal line work? Who knows; that’s why it’s tricky. Both running backs have stand alone value, but neither is going to be a running back one at the end of the season (barring injury). Each back has the upside to produce a RB1 week, but you never know when that is going to happen. Expect this backfield to continue to be a headache throughout the season.

-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)