MarShawn Lloyd starts against Broncos on Friday

Although he notched a receiving score in Week 2, these were the first two rushing touchdowns of Lloyd’s career. Awesome stuff, though a player who was averaging 2.7 yards per carry coming into this afternoon saw that number sit at just 3.1 against the Bears. The Pack also got journeyman Pierre Strong involved in their increasingly frustrating backfield committee. Strong was mostly just absorbing Chris Brooks’ (ankle, injured reserve) lost work, but that of course means Lloyd wasn’t seeing a bigger workload. Although the scores are nice, Lloyd is still lacking an RB2 profile heading into Week 6. He will be a low-upside FLEX vs. the Cowboys.

Brooks had been the most consistent contributor to a Green Bay backfield working to find their way in the absence of Josh Jacobs. The team appears likely to utilize journeyman Pierre Strong as the preferred passing down specialist, likely keeping the backfield in a maddening timeshare without Brooks. None are worthy of legitimate fantasy interest.

This was foreshadowed a bit by the appearance of Pierre Strong Jr. on the roster. It’s unclear how the Packers will handle third-down reps between Strong, Kaleb Johnson, and MarShawn Lloyd on Sunday. Strong was on the field for 138 passes of his 192 snaps in 2024 with the Browns.

Matt LaFleur said earlier this morning that they were going to “give him another day and see where he’s at tomorrow and make a decision after that.” It sounds like there’s still a chance Brooks could play in Week 5, but he’ll likely be on the questionable line on Friday.

Brooks suffered the ankle injury in Week 4. He went down in the first half and did not return. Brooks underwent testing on his ankle after the game, though the exact nature of his injury has yet to be reported. He does appear to be on the wrong side of questionable for Week 5. If he can’t go, MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson will split the backfield. Johnson led the team in carries last week but also gave up a goal line fumble. We expect Lloyd to get the start versus Chicago on Sunday.

Brooks left the Packers’ Week 4 win over the Bucs with an ankle injury in the first half. He did not return after the break and LaFleur didn’t have any definitive answers about the injury on Monday. It sounds like his status for Week 5 is very much up in the air. After coughing up a goal line fumble, Kaleb Johnson would likely take a backseat to MarShawn Lloyd once again. Lloyd has some low-end RB3 appeal as the potential lead back, but this is ultimately a backfield to avoid for fantasy purposes if possible.

Brooks was third among the Packers’ three running backs in snaps and touches. That could change next week with Kaleb Johnson coughing up a goal line fumble in this game. Still, Brooks would only jump to RB2 on the depth chart. He is seeing enough work to remove most of the fantasy value from Johnson and Lloyd but doesn’t have much fantasy value of his own. Green Bay’s backfield remains a mess headed into Week 5.

The Packers largely played in a trailing game script last night. Lloyd does not have meaningful access to passing down snaps, logging just one snap on third down and none in the two-minute drill, making him mostly dependent on decent rushing workloads. He played 45.5 percent of the red zone snaps and took the lone snap inside the five-yard line, but was held out of the end zone. Lloyd’s six touches led the backfield, but are hardly enough to keep him locked in 12-team FLEX spots.

The two backs combined for the only eight running back rush attempts on a night the Packers’ offensive line was completely manhandled by an aggressive and athletic Atlanta front. Lloyd took his four carries for 11 yards while Johnson managed only six on his four totes. Both backs were targeted three times through the air, with Johnson going for 10 yards on one reception and Lloyd managing just seven yards on two grabs. This backfield is a complete mess amidst Josh Jacobs’ absence and mounting injuries along the offensive line, with neither back anywhere near a usable fantasy asset ahead of a Week 4 road matchup with the pass-funnel Buccaneers.

He added one catch for 15 yards. While those stats are not impressive, Brooks also played on 24 of the team’s 53 snaps, which was the most of any Green Bay running back. After Marshawn Lloyd fumbled in the second half, it was Brooks who saw the next red zone carries and also Brooks who caught a crucial pass in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal. This has all the makings of a confusing committee, but Brooks needs to be on radars in deeper formats until Josh Jacobs returns.