Eddie Lacy is set to start the year as the Packers primary running back following the season-ending knee injury for incumbent starter DuJuan Harris. Of the rushers behind Lacy, only James Starks has been consistently good in practice.
It suggests that Lacy could hog the playing time in the Green Bay backfield, something the team may not have envisioned when they drafted him.
Lacy doesn't have much experience as a bell-cow running back -- just once did he go over 200 carries in college. But that's because he was behind two excellent rushers at Alabama (Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson). It doesn't mean he can't do it ... in fact it might be construed that he has fresh legs. He had just 355 carries over three seasons (Montee Ball had 356 carries just last year).
A strike against Lacy is an injury history. The list includes a knee, ankle, chest, big toe, elbow, left hand, knee (again) and hamstring -- with two surgeries performed. This is what scared off many NFL teams (including the Steelers) from taking him in the draft. But if we're being fair he played in 12 of 13 games as a sophomore and all 14 as a junior in college.
The other strike against Lacy is the team he's on: Green Bay loves to pass. They've averaged 405.3 carries over their last three seasons, topping out at 433 carries last year. Stunningly, that was good enough to finish in the middle of the NFL in rush attempts, though it includes Aaron Rodgers' 54 rushes (he's averaged 59.3 carries per season).
But if Lacy gives the Packers a rushing presence much like Harris did last postseason, there might actually be more balance in the game plan from week to week. Remember, no one's really been worthy of taking pass attempts away from Rodgers the past three years.
We're at a point in Fantasy drafts where running backs go from "great" to "not bad" to "Oh my gosh I have to pick from these people?!?" pretty quickly. Lacy's going to be a popular pick no matter what I write but the truth is that his negatives are no worse than those of Ryan Mathews and Darren McFadden. His positives are better than theirs. You should consider Lacy as a No. 2 running back to begin the year.