Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones has been activated for Week 3 following his two-week suspension, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, leaving fantasy players to decide whether Jones or Jamaal Williams is the more valuable player to own.
The answer to that question is...fluid.
Williams didn't offer much in the first two weeks as a runner, rushing 31 times for 106 yards, zero touchdowns and a mediocre 3.4 yards per carry. So you might be thinking that Jones is clearly the better option based on those numbers, and you wouldn't be alone:
Jones is undoubtedly explosive. He only rushed 81 times during his rookie season last year but turned that in 448 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and four scores. Williams, for his career, averages 3.6 yards per carry. There's little doubting that Jones is the better overall playmaker.
That advantage might eventually earn him a feature role but, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN pointed out, that won't happen in Week 3:
Demovsky added that Williams was "stellar in pass protection," which could be given additional weight considering that Aaron Rodgers is currently playing on a bum leg.
So you basically have a situation in Green Bay with three running backs vying for playing time, if you add Ty Montgomery to the fray, though Demovsky noted that the return of Jones "could impact Montgomery's snaps more than Williams'."
Williams has been pretty blah for fantasy owners, so he's nothing more than a low-upside flex option for Week 3 and into the future. Montgomery probably doesn't even need to be rostered—and certainly shouldn't be started—leaving Jones as a speculative flex in the weeks to come. Given McCarthy's recent comments, starting Jones in Week 3 seems like a major risk.
Still, Jones is the long-term play, without question. He's simply more dynamic than Williams. But it's hard to trust him in the short term, and it will be hard to trust any of the Green Bay running backs until a definitive feature back emerges.
The likely choice in that scenario is Jones. But despite not offering much production, Williams' pass-blocking may offer the Packers enough value to keep him on the field at the expense of getting Jones additional touches.
Nonetheless, if Jones is available in your league, absolutely roster him. He has enough potential to keep on your bench until his role becomes more clear.
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