MarShawn Lloyd shows confidence to be an immediate difference-maker for the Packers' offense

That's why Brian Gutekunst used the 88th overall pick to add MarShawn Lloyd. The running back played three seasons for South Carolina and transferred in 2023 to USC, where his stock went up. According to Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network's lead draft analyst, Lloyd is the best running back of the class, and the new Packers' offensive weapon is ready to make him look right.

"I'm the best running back in the draft, for sure," Lloyd said right after the selection. "I'm super confident with that. I definitely do feel like he's telling the truth."

Lloyd's style reminds us of Josh Jacobs, the elite running back the Packers signed to replace Aaron Jones. They all have different skill sets, but Lloys is some sort of mix of both — he's more similar to Jacobs, however he loves to take advantage of open space.

In 2023, among running backs with at least 100 attempts, Lloyd ranked second in Power 5 conferences with 0.4 missed tackles forced per attempt. And he takes pride in that ability.

"That's the biggest thing," Lloyd added. "Especially being a running back, you never want to be taken down by the first person, maybe not even the second person. So I feel like the yards after contact are what really matters."

If you look at other running backs who were on the board when the Packers took Lloyd, it's easy to see how much general manager Brian Gutekunst likes him. Green Bay selected him over Jaylen Wright (Miami Dolphins), Bucky Irving (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Will Shipley (Philadelphia Eagles), Ray Davis (Buffalo Bills), Isaac Guerendo (San Francisco 49ers), Braelon Allen (New York Jets), Audric Estime (Denver Broncos), and Tyrone Tracy (New York Giants), among others.

"He's packed in a tighter frame, but we like his ability to make people miss," Gutekunst said. "He's got a little juice to him. He's 220 pounds. He breaks tackles. We think his best football's ahead of him, and we're really excited to get him as well."

Passing game

Last year, at USC, Lloyd had the best receiving season of his college career in terms of yardage, even though he wasn't a frequent target. Under coach Lincoln Riley, he had 232 receiving yards — 17.8 per reception, which is an impressive average for a player out of the backfield.

"Very comfortable in the passing game," Lloyd mentioned. "I feel like coach Lincoln Riley put me in really good positions to be able to, not having many routes, but being very effective with it. I played with a team that had really good skills on the outside, a really good quarterback (Caleb Williams). It was just more of when things worked out."

The Packers had Josh Jacobs signed through 2027, just like Lloyd will be as soon as he signs his rookie contract. It will be tough for him to be a starter anytime soon. However, AJ Dillon is on a one-year, basically veteran minimum contract, and Emanuel Wilson hasn't played much. Lloyd will fight to the second running back in the rotation, and he has a real shot.