Green Bay Packers: Staying the course with Eddie Lacy
With speculation running rampant on what shiny new toy the Green Bay Packers should bring in to complement 2016 revelation Ty Montgomery at running back, analysts and fans alike are taking turns in promoting several different directions the front office should follow, including making a play for Adrian Peterson, investing big dollars in Le’Veon Bell or even drafting an exciting new ball carrier in the first round when their best option might be lying right there under their nose.
To say that Eddie Lacy has experienced a turbulent four seasons in Packers News may be a slight understatement given the way he’s alternated moments of on-field brilliance with an assortment of physical setbacks and a well-documented weight problem that have combined to obstruct his ascension to greatness.
Going into the 2016 season, Lacy seemed primed to deliver on the promise he exhibited in his first two campaigns in which he produced consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
Not only did he show up noticeably smaller than he appeared in 2015, but he stormed out of the gates with a renewed purpose in training camp as he prepared to enter his walk year.
He followed that up with an invigorating preseason performance in which he averaged 5.7 yards per carry and a touchdown in limited action.
From there, Lacy proceeded to string together an encouraging first quarter of games highlighted by 103-yard effort versus Detroit in Week 3.
In each of his outings, the wide-bodied Brahma bull not only ran with quickness and physicality, but went well over the 4.0 yards-per-carry benchmark feature backs are often judged by.
Lacy did well enough in his September to Remember that only four of 16 running backs with 40 or more totes averaged more yards per carry after one month. The 26-year-old Louisiana native was rolling at 5.0 yards a clip.
But then came an ankle injury that he valiantly tried playing through, but was forced to eventually shut it down after only five starts.
Many Packer backers couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed by the temptation of throwing their hands up in the air and supporting a parting of the ways with the 2013 second-round pick.
To that end, some devout fans reasoned that despite shedding some pounds entering his fourth NFL season, he still carried a little too much baggage in his upper and lower body and that things would never change.
And on that count, they were right.
As I’ve stated in the past, Lacy will never look like a ballerina in cleats. He is naturally a large human being that is blessed with the movement skills of a much smaller athlete.
The secret to getting the most out of this pulverizing ball of thunder isn’t to engage in the futile exercise of compelling him to reshape his body in hopes of having him look like a sculpted Adonis.
DeMarco Murray he is not.
Instead, the best way to maximize Lacy’s potential is reducing his workload by making him part of a three-headed backfield with Montgomery and Aaron Ripkowski.
Although Fast Eddie may have the characteristics of the type of back that improves the more he’s fed the ball, it’s become crystal clear that he cannot sustain a weekly workload of 20 carries-plus over the course of an entire season.
So why hold on to him when superior backs in the form of Bell and Peterson may both be available in free agency?
The short answer is: Lacy will be willing to work cheap while the other two will each command multi-year deals with exorbitant signing bonuses.
Though Lacy has missed more games due to injury over the past four years (16), his pricier peers exceed that total if one factors in the suspensions Bell and Peterson have respectively been served with in recent times.
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In Bell’s case, he’s been hit with two suspensions that have forced him to sit out a total of five games. The next one could cost him the season.
As for Purple Jesus, he is a month away from turning 32 and has a total of 2,418 carries and 2,659 touches over his 10 seasons at the pro level..
And though it may be foolish to think that the future Hall-of-Famer won’t still be a top-10 running back, expecting him to resume performing the way he did in 2015 would be mildly ambitious at best and wishful thinking at worst.
The bottom line with Bell and Peterson is that in addition to commanding top dollar on the free-agent market—particularly in Bell’s case, who’s seven years younger—they will both demand the lion’s share of carries from any of the teams in play for a major upgrade to their backfield.
Conversely, Lacy has no leverage. The market, in fact, has already been set for him, according to one anonymous agent, at one-year for $2 million.
No. 27 will be dead set on reestablishing his value after signing what will amount to be nothing more than a “prove it” deal.
And the way to best ensure that Lacy meet his ultimate goal is through a careful management of his touches in hopes of proving that the one-time Alabama Slammer can survive the rigors of 16 games rather than having him merely register a few high-volume performances followed by an inevitable breakdown of sorts.
Lacy’s best shot of scoring a multi-year contract in 2018 is to embrace the less-is-more mindset.
So as misguided draft analysts continue in their attempt to delude readers into thinking that Ted Thompson will make his bed by going with a running back in the first round—I’m looking at you Mel Kiper and Todd McShay—the truth is there are far more pressing needs to address in the first two days of the draft.
The far more realistic outlook includes Thompson looking for Lacy’s successor in the later rounds in a draft dripping with all types of gifted running backs.
The reason the Packers couldn’t make it out of the NFC Championship wasn’t due to what they lacked in the ground game.
The offense can indeed be even more of a nightmare to match up against with a revitalized Lacy playing a role in lighting up the scoreboard.