Fantasy Football Report Card: Aaron Jones

Aaron Jones is a tremendously talented NFL running back on the Green Bay Packers.  He is also a great fantasy football player who finished top-12 in rush yards, receiving yards, and total touchdowns among all running backs (RB) in 2019.  He had the most touchdowns (19) among all RB, tied with the starting quarterback for the Bears Mitch Trubisky. Despite Aaron Jones’ success in the NFL, he was a very inconsistent fantasy football player this past season.  While he finished as the RB2 on the season, anyone who owned Aaron Jones in 2019 could name 10 running backs they would have rather owned this past season. Every experienced fantasy player recognizes that a player’s fantasy finish only tells a portion of the story.  How did Aaron Jones’ fantasy finish compare to how much he actually helped your team? Let’s grade Aaron Jones’ performance in 2019…

The Good from 2019

• He finished fourth among RB in evaded tackles.
• He had 12 goal-line carries (#3 in NFL).
• He had eight games with 15+ fantasy points (tied for 2nd most among RB).
• Only two players had more games with 20+ fantasy points than Aaron Jones (6): CMC (11) & Dalvin Cook (7).
• He finished as a top-12 RB every week of the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 14-16).
• Among all positions, he was a top-9 overall fantasy football player (all positions) twice in the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 14-16), so he helped a lot of people win championships.

The Bad from 2019

• He had five games with fewer than 7 points (most among the top-24 RB on a point-per-game basis).
• If you needed a push to get into the fantasy playoffs, Jones did not get it done…From Weeks 9 – 13, he only scored six or more points once.
• Despite being a great pass catcher, there were five games where Jones saw fewer than two targets.
• Fellow Green Bay running back Jamaal Williams stole much of the red zone work and finished with more receiving touchdowns (5) than Jones (3).
• Matt LaFleur is a believer in the running back by committee (RBBC) approach, so Jamaal Williams was given a similar workload to Jones in many games.  And it’s not getting any better for Jones in the immediate future…. This offseason, LaFleur commented that he would be interested in adding another running back to the Packers for the 2020 season.

2019 Resume

2019: Final Grade: B+

Aaron Jones helped win people championships in 2019…For those that had the cajones to start him in the fantasy playoffs after a month straight of heartbreak.  Jones is responsible for both a handful of wins and a handful of losses for fantasy owners this past season. While he finished as the RB2 overall this season, he was a boom or bust player like Desean Jackson from years past.  For this reason, he doesn’t deserve to receive an A.  Aaron Jones had the second-most fantasy points among RB in 2019 but he was only pretty good for your team…There I said it.

2020 Outlook

Jones is a wild card for 2020…Will LaFleur add another running back and create a three-headed monster in Green Bay?  Will Jones’ huge touchdown numbers regress? Will Green Bay have a productive offense this year?  Aaron Jones could finish as the RB1 overall or outside the top-24 in 2020.  He’s one of the only great NFL running backs that doesn’t have a guaranteed workload in 2020.  I probably won’t draft him in redraft leagues this year unless he falls to the end of the third round.  I would also be trying to trade him away in dynasty leagues while his value is at an all-time high…assuming you can get a good haul in return (i.e. Rookie 1st round pick + solid young RB2).