The Packers went into the third day of the draft with three running backs on the 90-man roster.
They ended it with twice as many after drafting three running backs in the final four rounds. They took BYU’s Jamaal Williams in the fourth round, Texas-El Paso’s Aaron Jones in the fifth and Utah State’s Devante Mays in the seventh to increase their backfield options for the 2017 season.
For now, though, those players are only options for the No. 2 job on the depth chart. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said on Saturday that Ty Montgomery remains the starter after making the permanent move from wide receiver last season.
“Absolutely, [Montgomery] is our starting running back,” McCarthy said, via the Wisconsin State Journal. “The goal is to have the most competitive 90-man roster as you possibly can and you want that competition as high as it possibly can be in each position room. We obviously had some positions where numbers were not very high, and now after these three days, I think we have a competitive roster -- a very competitive roster.”
Montgomery only carried the ball more than 10 times in a game three times last season and while that will likely change now that he’s working exclusively out of the backfield, he’s unlikely to turn into a one-man band in the backfield. That will leave room for the newcomers to contribute if they prove to be more intriguing options than Christine Michael or Don Jackson.
