The Packers have been one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL this season, with Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson both having success when given opportunities. Jacobs missed Week 12 with a knee injury, but he will be able to return on Thanksgiving.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the fantasy football outlook for both backs as they head to the Motor City for a big Thanksgiving matchup that will have key playoff implications in the NFC.
Josh Jacobs Injury Update
Jacobs is ready to return after a one-week absence.
He was reportedly pushing to play on Sunday against the Vikings, but the team took a conservative approach and gave him the week off, especially with such a short turn to this matchup on Thursday.
Jacobs played at least 65% of snaps in each of his first five games this season, but he had started sharing playing time even before the injury. He played under 60% of snaps in three of four games before his injury, when he only played 22% since he had to leave early.
Even sharing time, Jacobs was very productive, producing at least 18 fantasy points in four of his last five full games. He had 11 rushing touchdowns in his nine full games before the injury, and he found the end zone in six straight games before the game he left early. Even in two games where he only had 13 carries, he still had solid fantasy days since he found the end zone.
Emanuel Wilson Fantasy Football Outlook
Wilson has been the primary alternative option in the Packers’ backfield, sharing time with Jacobs all season long. He played at least 30% of snaps in four of his last six games with Jacobs fully healthy. Last week with Jacobs out, he played 56% of snaps, but Chris Brooks was also in the mix, playing the other 44% of snaps.
While sharing time, Wilson had 11.7 fantasy points against the Steelers in Week 8, taking 11 carries for 61 yards and three catches for 26 more yards. In Week 11, he filled in after Jacobs left and had his first touchdown of the season on his way to 13.9 fantasy points.
Last week against the Vikings, Wilson had a season-high 28 carries and ran up 107 rushing yards, two more touchdowns and 29.5 fantasy points.
Wilson broke tackles and showed an elite power game similar to Jacobs’ and converted his opportunities for short touchdowns, following Jacobs’ blueprint for success all season.
The Bottom Line
The Lions have allowed the fewest fantasy points to running backs of any team this season, so it’s best to temper expectations for both backs this week, especially with the uncertainty of both players’ workload. Wilson showed enough to still be on the radar for a flex spot in deep leagues, even if he goes back to playing about one-third of snaps. Jacobs is still a low-end RB1 or a good RB2 in most formats, and unless you’re extremely stacked at running back, he should be back in your season-long lineups despite the tough matchup this week. If you happen to have a great alternative and can avoid the risk, good for you! However, that’s probably not the case in most situations in standard-sized leagues.
That matchup and the presence of the other running back makes both running backs high-risk plays in one-week contests like the NFL $2.5M Thanksgiving Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings. Jacobs is $6,800 and Wilson is $5,800. They each have the potential and upside to return good value but are touchdown-dependent, which isn’t a good place to be against the Lions, who have allowed just one running back touchdown in the last seven weeks.
