wpr;244483yeah I am a little concerned too.
But some experts have him rated pretty high.

Hey, he doesn't have to run far to pass block.
And they say he is good at that.

I hope I am wrong.. but I call this a bust today. Injury prone.. don't like the pick. Blahhhhhh!

Pack93z;244488I hope I am wrong.. but I call this a bust today. Injury prone.. don't like the pick. Blahhhhhh!

Oh shit!
I always count on you with your immense football knowledge to pick me up when I get pessimistic.

Pack93z;244488I hope I am wrong.. but I call this a bust today. Injury prone.. don't like the pick. Blahhhhhh!

Did he ever even miss any games?

I would have hated taking Lacy in the first round (Just don't think RBs are that valuable in today's NFL), but getting a 23ish rated player late in the second after trading down I think is excellent value.


Hope he gives us a little more consistent running game.
Without changing the blockers quite a bit the running game is never going to be that amazing but hopefully getting a little more consistent and being able to get some 3rd and shorts would be nice.

yooperfan;244491Oh shit!
I always count on you with your immense football knowledge to pick me up when I get pessimistic.

Sorry after a 16 hour day... this isn't the kid I wanted to see drafted and having to listen to it to boot.. at least not in the second. Especially with Ball there if they would have stayed put. For the "bounty" he got to trade down.. just not thrilled.

steveishere;244494Did he ever even miss any games?

Knee concerns, foot, toes, ankles and hamstrings.. not a great combination for a back that ran behind an NFL line and didn't have to carry the load at Bama.

Zero2Cool;244436"Yet at his pre-draft workout April 11, Lacy looked like those fatigued linebackers running on empty. At one point, the 5-foot-11, 231-pound back needed to step outside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility to catch his breath. The workout raised immediate red flags. This was, essentially, Lacy's job interview. And he looked tired, out of shape."

Dude was coming off a hammy' only had a couple weeks to get his wind back.

Pack93z;244499Sorry after a 16 hour day... this isn't the kid I wanted to see drafted and having to listen to it to boot.. at least not in the second. Especially with Ball there if they would have stayed put. For the "bounty" he got to trade down.. just not thrilled.

I liked him a little more than I did Ball. I do share some of your concerns, though.

There were 26 players in this draft better than Lacy, including Le'Veon Bell and Johnathan Franklin. The latter is still available. However, I do not believe there are 61 players better than Lacy. That’s why I’m not sour on this pick.

My comparison for Lacy is New England's Stevan Ridley. I think they have similar styles. Both are decisive with competent speed. They lack the extra gear, but they're capable of churning yardage out, while also converting the tough third and short situations. Of note, Lacy does not share Ridley’s ball security issues.

I do worry about him being the product of Alabama’s system, though I’m expecting a breakout year from Mark Ingram in New Orleans. Nevertheless, Lacy’s good enough to take pressure off Rodgers, while doing some of what I’ve already stated. That’s definitely progress.

While Lacy did have "injuries" they weren't injuries that kept him off the field. They were nagging injuries and he played through them all, certainly not hindering his performance. As for being out of shape at his workout, he was only a few weeks off the hamstring injury.

I applaud the Packers for this pick, especially after trading down and grabbing another pick in the process. I don't get the love for Montee Ball (other than he was a Badger). While these injuries that never took Lacy off the field are pointed out, I'll point out that the wear and tear on Ball is above and beyond Lacy. Ball's 924 career carries to Lacy's 355 career carries. Ball's 5,140 yards to Lacy's 2,402 yards.

Montee has had a concussion or two, right?

I always see talk about the shelf life of runningbacks and from college stats alone, I'd say Ball's shelf life is going to be shorter. With the Packers passing offense and teams using a two-back system, Lacy will do just fine with DuJuan Harris taking some snaps.

I guess my next question is at #61, what other options were there and worth that value? There are still a few quality offensive linemen, defensive linemen and OLB (and even WR). Maybe there was a safety, but was that safety going to be above and beyond what the Packers have?

Lacy is a gigantic steal at this spot and while he is used to running through big holes from Alabama's offensive line, so was Trent Richardson (a more recent Alabama RB). Cleveland's o-line has two good lineman (they are nothing special) like the Packers and Richardson did pretty well there.

We finally have a starting runningback.