What makes the Green Bay offense so deadly is their multiple wide receiver sets allowing star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to victimize the opposition's reserve secondary players. That doesn't mean a strong rushing attack isn't important and Grant was certainly strong, rushing for over 1,200 yard in both of the past two seasons. Having a dangerous ground game adds another dimension to the high powered Packer offense, keeping opposing defenses from loading up against the pass, particularly teams with a strong pass rush that can take advantage of the Packers suspect offensive line. Green Bay has an explosive back up in Brandon Jackson, but he has never attempted more than 75 rushes in any of his four seasons. Jackson's 175 career carries are 107 fewer than Grant had last season alone, so whether or not he can pick up the slack remains to be seen. Of bigger concern is what would happen if Jackson were to also suffer a serious injury. The Packers current roster offers two fullbacks, Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson, as well as half backs John Kuhn and the recently added Dimitri Nance. The quartet boasts a total of 20 NFL carries, all by Kuhn.
For the time being Green Bay is still a playoff worthy team with an explosive offense and opportunistic defense anchored by rising star Clay Matthews and 2009 NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Charles Woodson, but team depth has taken a serious blow. A lot of an NFL season is surviving injuries and losing a key weapon in the first week of the season sets the Packers back in the race for NFC dominance with the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints.
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