Will Josh Jacobs Duplicate His Dominant Fantasy Football Debut With the Packers in 2025?

We weren't exactly sure what to expect from Josh Jacobs in his first year with the Green Bay Packers.

He was off the heels of a trying year with the Las Vegas Raiders, one that saw Jacobs play just 13 games and log a career-low 805 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Turns out, the masses were lower than should be on the 27-year-old running back, who fought back with a triumphant campaign that included a whopping 16 scores.

Is Jacobs in for an equally dominant season in 2025? Where should you select him in fantasy football drafts? Let's find out.

Josh Jacobs 2024 Season

Jacobs was the 11th running back and 24th overall pick in 2024 fantasy football drafts, per FantasyPros' average draft position (ADP) data.

He ended up totaling 1,671 scrimmage yards and 16 touchdowns -- good for an RB5 season.

Jacobs delivered one of the best ROIs last season, though it wasn't all that surprising to see him outdo his ADP.

Back in 2022, he put up 2,053 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns en route to an RB3 finish in half-PPR scoring. He held an ADP of RB22 at pick 50 entering that campaign.

Avoiding injury and being entrenched in a high-scoring Green Bay offense was the perfect recipe for Jacobs to get back to his league-winning ways, and he showed particular dominance in the latter half of the year. He had just one touchdown to his name through the first six games but posted an eye-popping 15 TDs across the final 11 contests. As a result, he was the RB4 from Week 7 on, even outscoring Derrick Henry in that span.

He netted 4.4 yards per carry, which was his second-best mark since his rookie season. He also broke 28 tackles (fourth-most) and forced the third-most missed tackles (67) behind only Henry and Saquon Barkley. In turn, he earned the third-best PFF grade at his position, trailing just Henry and Bijan Robinson.

With that, let's check out Jacobs' fantasy football outlook for this season and figure out when he should come off the draft board.

Josh Jacobs 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

What's stopping Jacobs from putting up the same numbers as last season?

As it stands, he doesn't have competition in the backfield. Emanuel Wilson (103 attempts in 2024), Chris Brooks (36 attempts), and MarShawn Lloyd (6 attempts) make up Green Bay's depth chart past Jacobs. Wilson and Brooks were both viable backups for the Packers' offense last season while the rookie Lloyd was reduced to one appearance after spending most of the season on the injured reserve. The only training camp battle here is an RB2 one.

Jacobs logged 358 touches through 18 total games last season. It wasn't as taxing of a workload as some of his positional counterparts such as Barkley (482 touches), Kyren Williams (389), and Henry (386). Jacobs' age (27) isn't too much of a concern yet, either. And while he won't be guaranteed another full 17-game season, health isn't assured to anyone, and Jacobs has proved more durable than some of the other backs (Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor) being drafted in the first two rounds.

His touchdown count might come back down to earth, though there's really no reason to suspect that a healthy Jordan Love and company will put up anything other than points in 2025. Currently, Green Bay's win total is set at 9.5 with +105 odds on the over.

At risk of sounding too omniscient, it feels like we have a better gauge on Jacobs' 2025 outlook than most of the other top-tier running backs. He (currently) does not have injury concerns. Unlike Barkley and Henry, he's not coming off a super heavy usage season. Plus, he has a safe and reliable role on one of the better offenses in the league.

This in mind, it makes sense that FantasyPros' projections forecast Jacobs to finish as the RB6 in half-PPR formats after logging an RB5 season in 2024.

Notably, Jacobs currently carries an ADP of RB9 at pick 21. He might not be the flashiest pick around, but he's in line to outdo his ADP for the second straight season. Don't feel bad drafting Jacobs in the second round.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.