Eddie Lacy’s Lowered Shoulders Ready to Power Packers Offense

By Keegan Matheson | Oct 3, 2014

Eddie Lacy took a handoff from Aaron Rodgers on the 10-yard line late in the 3rd Quarter on Thursday Night, already with a touchdown under his belt. Stretching towards the right sideline, Lacy followed behind his Right Tackle patiently, before bursting over his left hip. Meeting Vikings’ Safety Robert Blanton at the 5-yard line, Lacy lowered his shoulder and drove, knocking Blanton’s helmet off of his head and out of bounds, then carried Blanton into the end zone with him. Not only did Blanton’s head-on tackle fail to stop Green Bay’s star runner, it failed to even slow him down.

Through his first 4 games of the season, Eddie Lacy may have tried to stretch that run to the right, outside his Tackle and into a 1-yard gain. With no games over 50 yards before last night’s matchup at Lambeau Field, Lacy had been running with indecision and hesitancy, some of which I believe was brought on by a concussion he suffered in Week 1. Something changed before Thursday Night Football, however, as Lacy eclipsed 50 yards with ease. In 5 minutes.

Lacy cites advice he received recently from Packers Running Backs Coach Sam Gash: when it’s time to make a decision, make it. The double-moves and cutbacks that kept him grounded earlier this season were replaced with decisive bursts through the line of scrimmage, and into the second level.

The Green Bay Packers O-Line deserves a great deal of credit for this as well. Often seen as a weakness, this O-Line has the advantage of functioning within a system that allows their unit to become much greater than the sum of it’s parts when all players execute. For these players, their only job is to get Eddie Lacy past the line of scrimmage. Lacy can handle the rest.

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I see Lacy’s play as a barometer of the Packers performance throughout the season, both good and bad, as he is a back that does rely heavily on the work of those around him. The Alabama product’s power prevents him from losing yards too often, but he does not possess the skill set of a LeSean McCoy or Jamaal Charles, who can consistently create electric impact plays despite poor blocking.

Lacy, on the other hand, often needs his team to get him to the second level. He reaches full speed and his ideal, pads-down leverage by his fourth step. Once past the line of scrimmage, Lacy can turn 5 yards into 12, or 14 into 25, as good as any back in the National Football League. Just ask Robert Blanton, who attempted to tackle Lacy in the open field on the game’s first drive, and was punished harshly for doing so.

If Eddie Lacy were playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars or Oakland Raiders, he could very well be seen as a “slow” back, failing to create long runs and averaging under 4 yards per carry. Green Bay is the ideal fit for his abilities, though, because their elite offence takes defenders away from the line of scrimmage. Due to this, when Lacy does meet a tackler, he has had ample time to build up his ferocious power, and he can operate from a position of strength.

The Packers offence on Thursday Night was able to put Lacy in many high-probability running situations, which he thrived upon at Alabama. Running behind Nick Saban O-Lines that featured the likes of D.J. Fluker, Chance Warmack, Cyrus Kouandjio, and Barrett Jones, Lacy made his name by blasting through the open holes and making tacklers pay in the secondary.

What if a defence wants to load up the box and snuff out the Packers’ run game, though? The Vikings learned the hard way that Aaron Rodgers will happily move into a play action pass, and find one of Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb downfield for a score. That forces the opposing D to protect the pass, and Lacy enters again. The completeness that Lacy provides Green Bay’s offence is invaluable.

Now, after a start to the season that had the state of Wisconsin, and more than a few fantasy owners, holding their breath, Green Bay’s bruiser is here to stay. I fully expect Lacy to grow stronger as the season continues, and outside of a tough matchup with the Carolina Panthers in Week 7, he should have every opportunity to do so.

Regardless of a forgettable first month to the season, I see Lacy being a top-10 NFL back for the remainder of the year. When temperatures begin to drop, and the snowflakes fall onto the frozen tundra of Lambeau, there is no defender in the NFL who wants to see a green #27 rumbling towards him in the open field.

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