I didn’t spend much (really any) time watching the Raiders last year. I happened to be talking to a raiders fan acquaintance recently. His take was McDaniels’ reign was historically messed up on so many levels. Pierce was, even in season, a dramatic improvement.

Asked about Jacobs, his view was that McDaniels use of him was farcical, almost designed to lead to futility and that he got much better immediately after the change simply by being used more as he had previously. So I went and looked at his stats. Apparently Pierce made that a big theme.

In 3 of the 5 games between Pierce taking over and his quad injury, Jacobs exceeded 98 yards from scrimmage.

Jacobs being utilized more frequently and effectively was a focal point of the Antonio Pierce regime. He amassed at least 98 yards from scrimmage in three of those five games before a quad injury ended his season. In between were 2 lesser games, one the 3 -0 loss to the Vikings in which he was injured. but his stats over that period do look significantly improved.

While I still have doubts, the result is that, after digging, I think it’s more credible that the drop off was at least significantly exaggerated by McDaniels, over and above the general fact that they were not a good team. They continued to improve under Pierce after he went down, to be fair.

I urge you guys and gals to watch Peter b’s locked on packers if you have any questions about Jacob’s you will get your answers I enjoyed his guest and feel even better about JJ now

--I have seen a few Raider games over the years as a good friend of mine is a fan, and your summary of Jacob is correct, all the tools were on display even with a poor O line. I have also seen him deliver some crushing blows on blitzing LBs. This is what teammate Crosby had to say, “Real Life Soldier… Love You For Life Brother. Nothings Changed But The Jersey. We Came In Together With Similar Goals In Mind & Now Look Where We’re At. Green Bay Got A Great".
-- It's incredible that we got younger after being the youngest team last season ( reaching for sunglasses).

Andy, thanks again for the time you put into looking at both Josh Jacobs and Xavier Mckinney. Like most Packer fans, was not expecting this team to get better before we even got to the draft. A+

You also mentioned the team needs basically remain the same. On offense: a No. 2 RB and OL depth at minimum. On defense: Another Safety/slot/box, Off-ball LB.

Do you have a short list of guys you think the Packers would be looking at for each of those? As example, anything to rumor of Packers interested in LB Edgerrin Cooper? Planned podcast to go over some?

[Edit] Edgerrin Cooper is now scheduled as one of the Packers top pre-draft visits.

Thanks Andy for your refreshing optimism. The last few days I have moved through the stages of grief related to the loss of Aaron Jones. Anger was the predominant feeling! My apologies to Gute and Packer brass. I have calmed down! The final assessment will be who is on the final list on opening day. I like to think Gute already has a plan to give a complimentary RB to Jacobs. Hopefully a 5 star RB speedster like Trey Benson. I think he has the highest RAS score for RBs and NBC pointed out that he has fully recovered from his leg injury. It looks like he could be there at 25 but only maybe at 48. Time will tell. Obviously we still need another Safety and another ILB to start as well. We could address depth and potential starter in the O-Line with our two picks in the third round. At Safety we could also possibly renegotiate and get a cheaper offer for Darnell Savage. I think he is better than many give credit. He was fantastic in the Dallas game. Certainly he could count as depth or maybe even play in the dime defense.

When you lead the league in something,, everything went right. Almost by definition, the next season won’t be as good.

Fairly rare for RBs to recapture that top year they had. If you think you are getting the guy in 2022 than you are being foolish. Sure the Raiders stunk last year but carries wear on you and this guy has had a lot of them going back to college. He isn't a young 26 and that isn't young for a RB to begin with. His prime years are past him. This is a year to year signing and I fully expect 2 RBs added in the draft and maybe a rookie RA or two as well. Jacobs will get paid as long as he can hold off the youth. I wouldn't bet it more than 2 seasons and would lean towards just a one and done scenario.

Let me start by saying I didn't watch the video so these are just my observations and opinion.

One possible reason not mentioned here for his decline in 2023 was the fact that he held out for a while when he received the franchise tag. He didnt report to camp until August 26th so im sure that had some effect on his slow start to the year. Like has been said already in the comments, once McDaniels and company got the boot he pretty much returned to form.

As much as we all hate losing Aaron Jones. GB got a guy to replace him that almost everyone on the Raiders has called the heart and soul of that team. That makes me feel a lot better about the switch because many of us considered Jones to be that guy for GB as well.

As for what we get with Jacobs, you have to actually watch the film to really appreciate what he brings to the table. I see a guy that can not only run you over, or stiff arm you into oblivion but also a guy who has nearly instant acceleration from a dead stop. His patience when approaching the line is awesome and he might actually be at his best running out of the shotgun or the pistol because of that patience and instant acceleration. He can jump cut or chop his feet in the hole and then take off like a mofo. He's got good hands and can be a weapon out of the backfield on dump offs and screens as well.

He may not rush for 1600 yrds again or even approach that with all the weapons we have on this offense but as long as he converts first downs and scores a lot of TDs, I really don't care what his yardage total is.

All in all I feel really good about adding this guy to the offense and I hope he earns every penny of the contract that he signed and ends up with a SB ring or two to boot!!!