MarShawn Lloyd
Lloyd is now Josh Jacobs' primary backup in Green Bay, and the Week 7 usage showed a real but clearly secondary role, with the lead job gone.
Role
In Jacobs' Week 7 return at Detroit, Jacobs had 35 snaps and Lloyd had 22 per Acme Packing Company's count (Heavy reported 24). Lloyd had 8 touches for 35 yards (six carries, two catches on two targets), while Jacobs had 16 (11 carries, five catches on seven targets). Pierre Strong Jr. had 8 snaps and no touches, and Kaleb Johnson was a healthy scratch (CBS/RotoWire). Chris Brooks was not mentioned in the Week 7 reports I read, so I can't say where he stands. Lloyd had been the most-used back in the Week 4 snap count (30 of 55), but Brooks, Johnson and Lloyd had split work before Jacobs came back.
Lloyd held the number-two job over Strong and Johnson in Jacobs' first game back, with 22 to 24 snaps and eight touches. Heavy reports the team chose him over Strong as the backup, partly because of Strong's fumble issue. One Yardbarker column imagines Jacobs on early downs and Lloyd as the third-down back. Lloyd also has standalone value if Jacobs misses time, since Jacobs was eased back in after sitting out the first six games, and the Packers' run game was last in the league before Week 7.
Fantasy Sports On SI says Jacobs should get roughly 15 to 20 touches a game over the final 11 games, leaving little room for Lloyd or Johnson. Jacobs also took the pass-catching work in Week 7 (seven targets to Lloyd's two). The Packers' run game is poor: the team averaged 3.2 yards per carry at Detroit and Lloyd averaged 3.3 per carry. Lloyd has also had a series of injuries, which the sources cite as the reason he had played only 10 regular-season snaps before this season.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether Lloyd's Week 7 workload of about 22 to 24 snaps holds as Jacobs gets back to full strength, or shrinks to a handful of carries. One view has Lloyd as the third-down back, but Jacobs caught five passes in his first game, so that role is unconfirmed. One game is all we have with both backs healthy.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at RB
Fantasy Memo reads your league and answers that every Tuesday, and checks again before kickoff.
Connect your league: 14 days free