The Green Bay Packers surprised the globe Monday by agreeing to a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, netting running back Knile Davis.
Talk about a win. Anybody who saw the Packers take a 30-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 understood the running game was a mess. Eddie Lacy has averaged a strong 5.1 yards per carry, but has been hobbled. James Starks is hurt. Efforts to swing the ball out to Ty Montgomery to emulate a running game hasn’t worked. To top it all off, Aaron Rodgers has the team’s lone pair of rushing scores.
Davis doesn’t fix the bevy of problems in Green Bay, but he’s quite the get for a cheap price, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:
In their trade for #KCChiefs RB Knile Davis, the #Packers gave up a conditional late-round pick. Likely based on playing time.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 18, 2016
Davis had wanted out of Kansas City and got it now that the Chiefs have Jamaal Charles healthy again. Davis might only have 775 rushing yards over his four-year career, but he’s scored 11 touchdowns. A big-play threat, Green Bay had plenty of time to keep Davis in mind, as Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pointed out:
#Packers got a pretty good look at Knile Davis in final preseason game. He started, carried 14 times for 58 yards and a TD ion Sept. 1.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 18, 2016
Maybe Davis doesn’t eat many snaps this season. But he’s an effective stop-gap solution who can take carries on a short week against the hapless Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.
If Davis is nothing more than a holdover while Lacy gets healthy, the trade is still quite the win. If he can effectively form a tandem with Lacy, even better.
Davis’ addition alone won’t fix the Green Bay offense. But it’s leagues better than the team doing nothing. Finally free of a committee three or more names deep, Davis has his new locale and will be eager to prove himself.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
