Entering his contract year, A.J. Dillon is a member of the Green Bay Packers, who selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft and signed him to a standard four-year rookie contract. Following three successful seasons and one underwhelming season in 2023, Green Bay extended an offer to Dillon for a one-year prove-it deal.
Dillon had his worst season ever the previous year, particularly in terms of yards gained per carry. After averaging 4.1 yards per run in 2022 and 5.1 yards per carry as a rookie, he only managed 3.4 yards per carry in the previous season. He needs to get better at this immediately if he hopes to stay in Green Bay until 2024.
Dillon has never been a feature back for Green Bay. But because of their diverse playing styles, he worked effectively with former running back Aaron Jones. Dillon was more of a power back in short-yardage scenarios on critical downs close to the end zone, but Jones was swift and agile.
However, Dillon did not exist in the red zone the previous season. 36 of Dillon’s rush attempts came within the 20-yard line of the opposition. He scored on just 5.6% of those carries. He scored on 21.4% of his 28 carries inside the opponent’s 20-yard line in the previous season.
In 2022 and 2023, he had ten carries inside the five-yard line. However, he scored a touchdown on 40% of those carries two years prior and 40% of them last year.
