Power Ranking the Running Back Rooms in the NFC North
Newsweek · C · trust 42/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. NFL training camps are in full swing, and as teams ease back into on-field drills and practices in the dead of the summer, football fans have a reason to rejoice.
The preseason officially begins when the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers face off in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Aug. 6 on NBC. The rest of the first week of the preseason kicks off the following week on Aug. 13.
As the start of the NFL regular season inches closer (Sept. 9), we are continuing to look at key offseason storylines for each of the league’s 32 teams. We’ve already looked at the top position battles to watch, rookies with the best chance of winning a starting job, and the players in the most danger of being cut, plus we’ve ranked the top head coaches, quarterbacks, and wide receiver rooms by division.
Now, we’re power ranking the running back rooms in each division. Next up is the NFC North.
The Lions had the best 1-2 running back punch heading into last season in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but that designation now goes to the Bears.
D’Andre Swift totaled 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns, while Kyle Monangai racked up 783 yards and five scores. Swift is also one of the better receiving backs in the league, and the door is open for Chicago to use him more as a pass-catcher while giving Monangai more carries to help disperse the workload evenly.
Injuries limited Roschon Johnson to just seven games last year, but if healthy, he could be the team’s RB3. He rushed for 252 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2023, and he totaled six rushing TDs two years ago.
With Montgomery now in Houston, it’ll be the Jahmyr Gibbs show from here on out. The 24-year-old has hit double-digit touchdowns in each of his first three seasons, and he’s had back-to-back seasons with 1,200 or more rushing yards. He’s also totaled 50 or more catches in his first three years and 500 or more receiving yards and five or more TDs the last two seasons.
Pacheco now steps into Detroit’s RB2 role. Injuries have hampered him the last two seasons, but before that he logged 830 and 935 yards rushing, respectively, in his first two seasons. With the RB3 spot now vacant, Sione Vaki is the most likely to take that job.
If Aaron Jones is healthy, he should be much more productive than the 548 yards and two touchdowns he had last season. He rushed for 1,138 yards and five touchdowns the year before — his first with Minnesota.
Jordan Mason is four years younger than Jones, and he’s shown over the last two years that he’s an excellent RB2. Mason hit 789 yards and three touchdowns two years ago in San Francisco, and he logged 758 yards and six TDs last year with the Vikings. Minnesota has two solid options to hand the ball off to.
Josh Jacobs was 31 yards shy of hitting his fifth 1,000-yard season last year (he also scored 13 touchdowns), but if the 28-year-old is healthy, he should be a 1,000-yard threat again.
The problem is Green Bay lost Jacobs’ primary backup, Emanuel Wilson, who rushed for 998 yards and seven touchdowns the last two seasons combined. Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong Jr. will likely battle it out for the RB2 job. Both are solid depth options.
Marshawn Lloyd is the wild card. Injuries took his 2025 season away, but he’s generating some good buzz in training camp and could see some solid touches during the season.
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