Packers working on veteran running backs

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers hold their usual free agent workouts on Tuesday. Two veteran running backs, Deon Jackson and Zonovan Knight, will participate, according to NFL insider Aaron Wilson.

Jackson, 25, has totaled 283 yards (3.0 average) and two touchdowns and has caught 35 passes for 223 yards (6.4 average) and one touchdown in 29 career games over three seasons. His best season was 2022, when he played in all 16 games with two starts. He rushed for 236 yards, but also caught 30 of 34 passes for 209 yards.

With Jonathan Taylor injured, he ran for 62 yards in a win over Denver. The following week, he carried 12 times for 42 yards and caught 10 passes for 79 yards in a win against Jacksonville.

“Deon was great in the passing game,” then-coach Frank Reich said. “He catches every ball. Knows where to be during checks. It’s not always big yards, but sometimes these little plays of 3 yards, 4 yards, now it’s third and 6 rather than third and 10. And he’s been good in protection.

With the Colts, Browns and Giants last year, he carried 14 times for 16 yards.

This year, he spent training camp with the Jets, but did not make their roster. He carried eight times for 18 yards (2.3 average).

Prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, Jackson measured 5-foot-11 and 218 pounds. With 4.42 speed per 40, his relative athleticism score was 8.94.

In four seasons at Duke, Jackson rushed for 2,267 yards and caught 61 passes. He has surpassed 640 rushing yards in each of his last three seasons.

Jackson went undrafted but received a $45,000 signing bonus from the Colts. It was the highest bonus for any player that year.

“Bam” Knight, 23, rushed for 313 yards (3.6 average) on a single touchdown and caught 14 passes for 108 yards (7.7 average) in nine games over two seasons. Most of that production came with the Jets in 2022; Knight carried three times for 13 yards in two games with the Lions last year.

He spent the preseason with the Lions, rushing 24 times for 75 yards (3.1 average).

Knight went undrafted in 2022. At 5-foot-10-7/8 and 209 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.58 seconds and made a Relative Athletic Score of 5.85.

In three seasons at North Carolina State, Knight rushed for 2,286 yards (5.5 average) and caught 48 passes for 337 yards (7.0 average). He rushed for 745 yards in 2021, 788 yards in 2022 and 753 yards in 2023.

In his first NFL game of 2022, Knight rushed for 69 yards and had 103 total yards in a win against the Bears. It was the most rushing yards by a player making his Jets debut since 1964.

At Southern Nash High School in North Carolina – the same school that produced NFL legend Julius Peppers – Knight totaled 5,073 yards and 71 touchdowns in a Wing-T offense.

“Having someone like Julius Peppers come from my school and succeed in college and the NFL gives you a sense of motivation to know that the dream is possible and achievable,” he told Greensboro.com.

And his nickname? Initially, it had nothing to do with his running style. On the contrary, when he was a baby, he loved banging his toys together.

“As my uncle walked by he said, ‘That’s all you hear, bam, bam, bam’” Knight told Rivals. “So it’s kind of stuck after that.

“It was actually Bam Bam, but over time I guess people put down that second Bam, so it’s just Bam.”

The Packers have Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks on the 53-man roster and Ellis Merriweather on the practice squad.

More Green Bay Packers news