Zac Stacy Injury: St. Louis Rams RB expected to start

St. Louis Rams running back Zac Stacy (30) rushes as Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J.Wright (50) attempts a tackle during the first half at Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Rams rookie running back Zac Stacy received plenty of attention from the fantasy community before the season started, and the fantasy sleeper is a secret no more. He took the reigns of the Rams running back committee in Week 5 and won’t be relinquishing his role as the starter over Daryl Richardson and Isaiah Pead anytime soon. Stacy has looked terrific, and his 134-yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks was a thing to behold. He basically carried the Rams offense and put up those numbers against an excellent Seahawks defense that had the luxury of stacking up to defend the run with the horrendous Kellen Clemens at quarterback.

Stacy suffered a low-ankle sprain, though, in the fourth quarter of the Rams loss, and his status for this week’s game against the Tennessee Titans was immediately put into question. He was able to avoid the dreaded high-ankle sprain, and he returned to a full practice as soon as Thursday. The Vanderbilt product is definitely a tough player, so there is little doubt that he can play through this ankle injury, even though he is listed questionable. At this point in time, Stacy is clearly the Rams best skill position player and one of the most important players on the team.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Zac Stacy is “expected” to start today against the Titans, and he has made significant progress on his ankle injury throughout the week. Most of us expect Stacy to start due to observations passed along by Rams beat writers (in addition to his obviously encouraging practice statuses), but this is good confirmation provided by Schefter. Plus, when Schefter reports his Sunday morning, “Player X is expected to start,” it usually means that the player in question will start, barring any unforeseen setbacks.

Fantasy owners should feel comfortable with starting Stacy this week against the Titans defense, especially since the Rams figure to run the ball a lot. The Titans pass defense is much better than their run defense, and Stacy is much better than Clemens. Assuming Stacy is healthy, this should be a big game for him.

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