After months of speculation, the NFL has officially announced that Josh Jacobs will begin the season on the commissioner exempt list. This means the Packers’ running back will be kept away from the team for all practices and games as the investigation continues on for his legal process. It is important to note that this is not the official ruling just yet, but the picture has been made clear that Jacobs will not serve as the Green Bay starting running back for the time being, paving the way for MarShawn Lloyd to see a significant bump in his level of opportunity.
MarShawn Lloyd Fantasy Football Outlook on the Packers:
MarShawn Lloyd is entering his third season in the NFL after being selected in the third round of the 2024 Draft. He saw limited opportunity across his career to this point, with injuries playing a major factor. Lloyd suited up for just one game in the 2024 season and recorded six rush attempts for 15 yards.
The 25-year-old suffered an ankle sprain that landed him on IR during his rookie season following his lone NFL snap. Lloyd then suffered a non-football illness as he worked himself back, and he was diagnosed with appendicitis and forced to remain sidelined for the duration of the season. Last year was even less lucky for the USC product. Lloyd suffered a non-contact groin injury early in training camp and then battled a variety of hamstring and calf injuries throughout that prevented him from ever logging a snap in the 2025 season.
Before this unlucky start to his NFL career, Lloyd ran for 1,621 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns across his three seasons in college. He spent his first two years at the University of South Carolina before transferring to USC, where he fully flourished. Across his final season at the collegiate level, Lloyd tallied 820 rushing yards, 232 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns.
The injury history is a notable red flag, but Lloyd has been healthy thus far in training camp. He has taken snaps in two preseason games and recorded 10 carries for 30 yards as well as two receptions for seven yards and a touchdown through the air. Without Jacobs on the field, Lloyd will be looked at as the top running back in the Packers’ system, with Chris Brooks and Kaleb Johnson the other names of note.
Johnson is especially noteworthy, as the Packers invested a third-round pick to bring the former Steelers running back to Green Bay earlier Sunday. The Iowa product played a limited role for the Steelers last year, recording just 28 rush attempts for 69 yards and one reception across the 10 games he was active for. Johnson will be eager for a fresh start himself, but he will be behind the eight ball given his late arrival to the Green Bay roster.
Opportunity is the biggest factor when measuring potential fantasy production. Lloyd should have the inside track on receiving the majority of the running back opportunities in the early stages of the season. But his injury history and lack of production to this point are enough to provide a bit of pause. This is especially the case considering Jacobs still does not have a direct timeline for how long he will be kept away from the team. The Packers have vocalized support and been pretty direct in their belief that he will resume his role as the top back whenever he is cleared, especially following his 1,211 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns last year. Jacobs finished the season ranked 10th among running backs in fantasy points per game at 15.9 per contest on DraftKings scoring and recording 239.1 total fantasy points on the season.
Prior to this news, Lloyd was being selected with an average draft position of roughly the 42nd running back in fantasy football drafts. Following the news of Jacobs being placed on the commissioners exempt list, he should see a notable jump in this. However, RB1 territory feels too large of a leap given the red flags of his past and arrival of Johnson. It is fair to connect that if the Packers had full faith in Lloyd to take the bell-cow running back opportunities, they would not be searching outside the organization for more options.
The flashes of talent for Lloyd are evident, and count on him getting plenty of opportunities in the early weeks of the season. But his level of production in these chances will likely make or break his outlook for the remainder of the year. There are high expectations for the Packers this season, and Jacobs has been a difference-maker across his first two seasons in Green Bay.
Move Lloyd up to the RB2 category or strong flex options for the time being. The path to him being an impactful player in the early weeks of the season is evident, but his status beyond this is still unclear. Have him circled as a mid-round target as running backs become more scarce, but there are too many question marks to slide him much higher than this. His level of opportunity is worth capitalizing on in the early stages of the year, but the looming potential return of Jacobs, the non-existent track record of Lloyd at the NFL level, and his injury history prevent him from being truly thrown in the difference-making category from a fantasy football perspective.
