Earlier this week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that he expected both of his top two running backs, Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, to be a bigger part of the passing game this season.

“We have runs to both of them, we have swing passes to them, we have screens, we have down-the-field stuff, we have action stuff, we have scat protection, we have six-man, seven-man protection stuff. There's a lot in the offense for those two guys. We've got to get our best 11 on the field, and it seems like those two are both in the best 11.”

But Rodgers closed the interview by adding, “I think 50 [catches] for both of those guys is realistic.”

While this sounded shocking at first, it’s a perfectly logical expectation for the Packers pair of top backs.

Consider that Jones caught 52 passes last season in 65 targets despite missing two games due to injuries. In 2020, he had 47 receptions in 14 games and in 2019, 49 grabs in 16 games. Jones has been at or near 50 catches in each of the last three seasons.

Dillon caught 34 passes last year on just 37 targets in his first season of extended action in the NFL. The Packers weren’t sure if the former Boston College star would be a good receiver out of the backfield because he was rarely asked to catch passes in college. But Dillon showed the ability to not only catch swing passes out of the backfield and screens, but to get downfield and to maneuver in space after making the catch. In short, Dillon has proven himself to be a multi-purpose weapon whenever he has the football.

When you consider where the Packers offense is right now as we head into the 2022 campaign, having both runners catch 50 passes (assuming they stay relatively healthy) is not far-fetched. Afterall, 50 catches in 17 games means each player must average exactly three catches per running back per game.

The Packers offense is also likely to feature more two-running back sets this season which will get both Jones and Dillon the field more often and is designed to cause matchup problems for the defense.

Both running backs are likely to be a bigger part of the offense because of the changes at wide receiver this season. Davante Adams is now with the Las Vegas Raiders while Marquez Valdes-Scantling signed with Kansas City. Adams has been Rodgers’ favorite target over the last five years and had a team-high 169 targets in 2021. MVS had 55 targets despite missing six games. That’s 224 targets from last year that need to be replaced.

The Packers wide receiver situation remains in flux. There are more questions than answers at this point in the preseason although there is undeniably talent at the position. But can Allen Lazard be the number one wide receiver and still be productive? Can Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb stay on the field? These are the top three receivers on the depth chart as of right now.

Of course, the other question is how soon can Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Amari Rodgers and the other young receivers become a big part of the offense? And related to that is how quickly can they earn the trust of their quarterback who has historically been impatient with the mistakes inexperienced receivers often make.

Logic states that the receivers Rodgers is more familiar with and trusts will get more targets, especially early in the season. That will mean the veteran wideouts, tight ends like Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis and Josiah Deguara and of course, Jones and Dillon.

With his favorite target gone and an inexperienced receiving corps in transition this season, Rodgers will have to distribute the ball more evenly and develop chemistry and trust with his remaining targets. When you add the fact that there will be more formations with both running backs on the field at the same time, seeing Jones and Dillon getting more targets than they had last year is a safe bet.

No pair of Packers running backs have ever reached 50 catches in the same season although some duos have come close. In 1997, Dorsey Levens had 53 catches while William Henderson added 41. Edgar Bennett caught 61 balls in 1995 while Dorsey Levens finished the season with 48 In 1992, Harry Sydney caught 49 passes and Vince Workman had 47 while in 1980, Eddie Lee Ivery made 50 receptions while Gerry Ellis had 48.

When Rodgers first said both runners could catch 50 passes, it sounded shocking. But a deeper look shows it really isn’t an unrealistic goal.