Eddie Lacy’s last chance at NFL relevance

It’s been a strange, rocky career for running back Eddie Lacy. After bursting onto the scene with the Green Bay Packers in 2013, Lacy looked like he’d be one of the best backs in the league for a long time. However, over the next few years Lacy gradually fell out of favor in Green Bay, as injuries and poor conditioning took their toll.

The Packers let Lacy’s rookie contract expire this past offseason and he’s been forced to take a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks, where he’ll be looking to win a starting job and get his career back on track. He also has to keep his weight under control, something that’s been a consistent issue. Yet despite these concerns, Lacy remains a supremely talented back when he’s actually on the field, which hasn’t always been the case in recent years.

If he stays healthy and performs up to his standards, the 27-year-old could be one of the more coveted running backs in free agency next year — he’ll be an especially attractive option for teams that can’t afford Le’Veon Bell.

But before we talk about Lacy’s future, let’s examine his past and how we got to this point.

The Packers selected Lacy in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft, following a storied college career at Alabama that culminated with him winning Offensive MVP in the 2013 BCS National Championship. At the NFL Combine, he weighed in at 5’11, 231 pounds — a little on the heavy side but certainly not out of the ordinary for a big power back.

Any concern-trolling about Lacy’s weight was quickly brushed aside when the actual games started. He finished his rookie year with 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns on 284 carries, bringing some much-needed balance to a Packers offense that was more reliant than ever on Aaron Rodgers’ arm. Lacy won Offensive Rookie of the Year for his efforts. His next season was just as good, with 1,139 yards, his yards per carry average jumping from 4.1 to 4.6, and his touchdowns increasing from 11 to 13 (nine rushing, four receiving).

It looked like the sky was the limit for Lacy at that point, but the next few years weren’t nearly as rosy.

Lacy played 15 games in 2015 but was bothered by ankle and groin injuries for most of the year. His numbers took a big hit as a result — Lacy’s yards per attempt dropped to 4.1 and he scored just five touchdowns all season. He also failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark, eventually settling into a backfield committee with James Starks.

After the season, Lacy’s weight became a talking point once again, this time with head coach Mike McCarthy explicitly calling him out on it. “Eddie Lacy has a lot of work to do,” McCarthy told Packers.com. “I think I’m stating the obvious. His offseason last season was not good enough. He has to get it done. He cannot play at the weight he did this year.”

Lacy got the message and set about shedding pounds that offseason, even taking up P90X training. The results were pretty convincing, to say the least. Looking leaner and more spry than ever, Lacy had a hot start to the 2016 season, rushing for 360 yards and averaging 5.1 yards per carry in the first five games. Unfortunately, he picked up another ankle injury that required surgery, shutting down his season early.

By this point, Lacy was pretty much done with the Packers, who moved on with converted WR Ty Montgomery as their new starting RB. When his rookie contract expired, Lacy hit free agency with plenty of questions surrounding his health and commitment to staying in shape. With the market already low on running backs, a multiyear deal likely wasn’t in the cards for Lacy, who took a one-year offer from the Seahawks worth up to $5.5 million, with $3 million in guarantees.

Lacy’s weight was no secret anymore (he reportedly weighed in at 267 pounds during free agent visits), so the Seahawks put in some creative clauses in his contract, paying out a bonus for every monthly weight target the team wants him to make.

Getting paid to lose weight sounds like a sweet gig, so once again Lacy got to work. He passed his first weigh-in in May at 253 pounds, beating the limit of 255. He got a $55,000 check for that accomplishment and got another $55,000 for being under 250 pounds in June. The goal is for Lacy to be around 245 pounds during the actual season, so he’s well on his way toward getting there.

Now healed from his ankle injury and getting back in shape, Lacy has a good chance to re-establish himself as one of the league’s better running backs. Coach Pete Carroll does love his reclamation projects, so a healthy, fit Lacy would solve a lot of the problems the Seahawks had with their running game post-Marshawn Lynch.

However, he won’t just be handed the starting job with no competition. Seattle has a crowded depth chart that probably won’t be sorted out until well into training camp. Thomas Rawls was the heir apparent to Lynch, but injuries limited him to just nine games and he ran for an anemic 3.2 yards per carry. Second-year player C.J. Prosise also had multiple injury problems, but when healthy, he showed great potential as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. Both men are good enough to play regular snaps, which should make for one of the more interesting camp battles to watch in August.

Lacy is a flawed player with plenty of question marks, but his pure talent is undeniable. For a man of his size, he has deceptive open-field speed and can blow up defenses without warning.

If that version of Lacy shows up this fall, the Seahawks offense will be in much better shape than it was in 2016, and Lacy will earn a much bigger paycheck next year.