Slimmed-Down Aaron Jones Has RB1 Fantasy Football Upside in Packers' New Offense

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Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones' 2018 season was incredibly frustrating from a fantasy perspective. Despite averaging 5.5 yards per carry, then-head coach Mike McCarthy seemingly refused to get Jones more involved in the offense for long stretches of the season. Then, once Jones really began producing – scoring eight touchdowns in his last eight games played – he sprained his MCL and missed the rest of the season.

Fast forward to 2019, and McCarthy is no longer the Packers' head coach, having been replaced by Matt LeFleur and an offense that should defer more to the run this coming season.

By all accounts, the Packers won't be passing 71 percent of the time, like they did last season, and Jones will likely be seeing the ball quite a bit more. The Packers' lead back totaled 159 touches in 2018.

Another reason to be excited about Jones is that he slimmed down this offseason, cutting half of his body fat while still maintaining his weight. So, while it might sound like a cliche, he is seemingly heading into 2019 in the best shape of his life.

With a new body and a new offense, Jones has a chance to end up an RB1 in fantasy football, despite an average draft position (ADP) of 30 in early mocks. He's the No. 16 ranked running back in standard leagues and No. 19 in PPR leagues, according to FantasyPros' aggregate rankings.

A steady supply of carries, at anything close to the 5.5 yards per carry he averaged last season, should make Jones one of the top fantasy backs in the league, as long as he stays on the field. With a potentially higher usage rate, things are certainly looking up for Jones and his fantasy owners in 2019.

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Ian McCafferty is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ian McCafferty also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username itmccaff. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.