As the Green Bay Packers were founded in 1919, this historic franchise has obviously seen plenty of solid running backs come and go over the last century-plus, a few of whom are considered by many to be among the greatest in NFL history.
In that regard, the backs most often mentioned are Jim Taylor — who was technically a fullback, but we’ll let that slide — and Paul Hornung, who each won four NFL titles, a Super Bowl, and an NFL MVP Award. Both are also members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Ahman Green isn’t often mentioned in those conversations, but perhaps he should be, as he’s the all-time leading rusher in Green Bay history with 8,322 yards and has the 39th-most rushing yards in NFL history with 9,205.
The Packers seem to have struck gold in the running back department yet again, as Josh Jacobs is having a fantastic first season in eastern Wisconsin and is just 13 yards away from the fourth 1,000-yard season of his career, a number the former Raider should be able to hit early in Green Bay’s highly anticipated rematch with the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
When Jacobs ultimately hits 1,000 yards, it will mark the 27th time a Green Bay player has hit the number. So, it’s a fairly elite club. However, he’s also primed to join an even more exclusive club, one which only features eight other Packers.
In the 105 seasons of Green Bay football before this one — yes, we’re even counting the two before they joined the NFL in 1921 — there have only been 12 instances in which a Packers player has scored 10 rushing touchdowns.
Seriously, only 12. Take a look.
|
PLAYER |
SEASON |
RUSHING TD |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Taylor |
1962 |
19 |
|
Aaron Jones |
2019 |
16 |
|
Ahman Green |
2003 |
15 |
|
Jim Taylor |
1961 |
15 |
|
Paul Hornung |
1960 |
13 |
|
Jim Taylor |
1964 |
12 |
|
Ryan Grant |
2009 |
11 |
|
Eddie Lacy |
2013 |
11 |
|
Terdell Middleton |
1978 |
11 |
|
Jim Taylor |
1960 |
11 |
|
Tobin Rote |
1956 |
11 |
|
Ahman Green |
2000 |
10 |
Pretty wild, right?
As you can see, only eight different Packers have scored 10 or more touchdowns on the ground. And one of them was a quarterback, that, of course, being Tobin Rote.
Jacobs got off to a bit of a slow start this season when it comes to scoring, reaching the end zone just once in Green Bay’s first seven games.
Since then, however, he’s scored seven touchdowns, including five in his last three outings, three of those coming in the Packers’ 38-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Needing just two more to gain entry into this exclusive club, Jacobs could easily get there on Thursday night against the Lions, given his affinity for the end zone in recent weeks.
