Packers prospects: 6 best running back fits in 2026 NFL Draft

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said recently that the team will add competition at running back, which likely means a draft pick will be spent there this month.

But which prospects are the most likely to be Green Bay’s particular flavor?

After analyzing the production profiles the Packers have traditionally drafted in the last 20 years, let’s now look at the body types and athletic thresholds they usually look for.

By combining those two pieces of the prospect profile, the truest "Packers types" can be found.

While at most positions, bigger is better in Green Bay’s eyes, there is more nuance to it at running back.

They like heavier backs, with their average draft pick at the position since 2005 weighing 220 pounds, which ranks in the 80th percentile, but they have tended to prefer shorter, squattier players, with the average height at just under 5-11.

Looking back at some of their early-round picks, Eddie Lacy was 5-11, 231 pounds coming out of college, Brandon Jackson was lighter at 210, but was under 5-10. MarShawn Lloyd took it to the extreme at under 5-9, 220.

Josh Jacobs was not a draft pick, but he is their ideal build at 5-10, 220. A.J. Dillon was a taller back at over 6-0, but he weighed 247. As is the case at other positions, body proportions and density matter at running back.

In terms of athletic testing, the highest bar they have set historically is in the broad jump, which demonstrates explosion. The average Packers pick has jumped 10-2 in the broad, which is an 82nd percentile score. Similarly, the average vert has been just under 36”, ranking in the 73rd percentile.

Long speed has been less important, but the average Green Bay draft pick at running back has posted a 4.54 in the 40, which is a 72nd percentile score.

Strong agility testing is more of a "nice to have." When it comes to running backs, the key ingredients are being compact and explosive.

Aaron Jones was a success story as a different type of back at under 5-9 ½, 208 pounds, but he had elite testing across the board. The Packers are willing to take chances on those kinds of players, but Jones was also a fifth-round pick.

Based on the type of profile Green Bay has chased in terms of production, size and athleticism, here are the best fits in the 2026 draft class, ranked between No. 30 and 350 on the consensus big board, along with their ranking:

• Mike Washington Jr. - Arkansas (71)
• Emmett Johnson - Nebraska (105)
• Nick Singleton - Penn State (143)
• Kaelon Black - Indiana (177)
• Adam Randall - Clemson (180)
• Chip Trayanum - Toledo (271)

Washington Jr. and Black are both visiting with the Packers pre-draft, putting them even more firmly in the frame. The former was not on the original list of production matches due to his career yards per carry being slightly low, but it does not seem to be deterring Green Bay.

The Arkansas back crushed his workout, running a 4.33 in the 40, jumping 10-8 in the broad and 39” in the vert at over 6-0, 223 pounds. He had a quiet college career before breaking out for the Razorbacks as a senior with nearly 1,300 yards, a 6.4-yard average and nine touchdowns.

Black is compact at just over 5-9, 211 pounds, and also impressed in the 40 and the jumps, running a 4.45, jumping 10-5 in the broad and 37.5” in the vert. He also enjoyed a breakout in his final college season with over 1,000 rushing yards and 10 scores for the national champion Hoosiers.

Emmett Johnson did not seem like an athletic fit for Green Bay initially at 202 pounds with average testing, but he ran an improved 40 at his pro day (4.49 at 205 pounds). His speed and explosion scores are not special, and he is not a perfect Packers fit, but he is at least in the conversation.

Nick Singleton could not test due to a broken bone in his foot, but he was expected to run extremely well at 6-0, 221 pounds. He is more athlete than running back at this stage, but is big and fast, was productive in college (including in the passing game), can return kicks, and is still only 22.

Adam Randall is a converted wide receiver, but at 6-2 ½, 232 pounds, you wouldn’t know it. He ran a 4.50 at that size and jumped 10-4 in the broad, as well as 37” in the vert. A team captain at Clemson as a senior, Randall also has value as a returner.

Trayanum is built like a Packers back at 5-10 ½, 225 pounds and also tested well across the board. He is another player who broke out late, putting up over 1,200 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns in his sixth college season after not even hitting 450 total yards in any previous season.

He was not on the original production matches list, which only contained players ranked in the top 300 at the time. Trayanum has since moved up the consensus board.

Two players in the top 350 who on paper tick a lot of boxes for the Packers are Indiana’s Roman Hemby (ranked 202nd) and Houston’s Dean Connors (350), but in terms of build, they are not quite their type at 6-0 207 pounds and 5-11 ⅓”, 208 pounds, respectively.

All three of the backs Green Bay has drafted weighing 210 or less were 5-10 or shorter.

Players like Jonah Coleman (97) and Kaytron Allen (151) are not listed as they both opted against doing any athletic testing without an injury excuse. The Packers have not drafted a running back who was healthy enough to test but chose not to.

Green Bay will have a pre-draft visit with New Mexico’s Damon Bankston, who is an outlier at 5-10 ⅓ and 196 pounds. He is not even ranked among the 700-plus players on the consensus board, so would almost certainly be a UDFA signing, which is where the Packers are willing to be more lenient with their usual standards.

Bankston’s visit takes them up to three at the running back position, which is already more than the most they have done in any of Brian Gutekunst’s years as general manager. It certainly seems they are intent on adding to the position in the draft or through a UDFA this month.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers prospects: 6 best running back fits in 2026 NFL Draft