Packers Sign Running Back Kenyan Drake to Practice Squad

Kenyan Drake has been added to the Packers' practice squad a source told Packer Central 

Drake himself teased the news as well with a tweet of his own. 

AJ Dillon has been carrying the load in Aaron Jones' absence from the lineup, but he has been nursing a groin injury of his own.

Of the Packers' 21 traditional rush attempts on Sunday night against the Chiefs, Dillon handled 18 of those carries. 

Drake was picked in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins and spent four seasons there before moving on to Arizona.

Drake has spent time in those two places, Las Vegas, and most recently was with the Baltimore Ravens.

Drake played one game this year with the Ravens and received one carry on the season. 

He also caught two passes and lost a fumble. He has registered a statistic since that 22-19 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, who he spent time with in the preseason. 

Drake could help the Packers by adding some juice to their passing game out of the backfield. 

AJ Dillon has been serviceable in that regard, but most passing downs have belonged to Patrick Taylor.

Taylor is a solid pass protector but has six receptions for 32 yards this season.

Drake has excelled as a pass catcher out of the backfield in his career.

That includes catching 53 passes for 477 yards in 2018. 

Drake's biggest asset that he could bring to the Packers is speed. He's not going to replace Christian Watson, who left Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, but the Packers' backfield doesn't have a ton of speed at this point.

Dillon is a powerful runner, but won't run away from anyone. Patrick Taylor is solid in pass protection but does not have the speed that Drake does. 

Drake is fast. The type of fast that makes people look not fast.  

He ran a 4.45 at the NFL Combine before he was drafted and still can reach that speed.

Drake reached 22.4 miles-per-hour according to Prime Vision in a Thursday night game against Tampa Bay just last year. 

Drake also has experience as a kickoff returner should Keisean Nixon go down with an injury. 

The Packers had been using James Robinson as a game day elevation, and now may be deciding between these two.