Seahawks Three-Headed Monster part 1: Eddie Lacy
By Ben Renner
The Seahawks will have a three-headed monster in their backfield if Eddie Lacy, C.J. Prosise, and Thomas Rawls can all stay healthy and productive. How will Lacy fare in this presumptive committee approach in Seattle?
New Seahawks running back Eddie Lacy made a boatload of incentive money this spring by passing two weigh-ins, ensuring he’s in the physical condition to be a featured running back for Pete Carroll’s team.
General Manager John Schneider brought Lacy in on a one-year deal presumably because incumbent starter from 2016, Thomas Rawls ,couldn’t stay healthy all season with the burden of the running game on his shoulders. It seems Carroll and Schneider have woken up and smelled the coffee: the trend of deploying a running back platoon has been sweeping the NFL for years.
In the past, the Seahawks could scoff at running back by committees because of Marshawn Lynch. With Lynch bowing out before last season and signing with his hometown Oakland Raiders this offseason, there is no 250-to-300 carry-plus running back on the team anymore.
Rawls has been effective when healthy. The undrafted free agent’s slash and burn running style has endeared him to Seahawks fans and made his coaches believers. Despite a relatively disappointing and injury-marred season last year, Rawls still averages 4.6 yards per carry in his career. He averaged a league-leading 5.6 yards per carry in 2015.
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Lacy was essentially run out of Green Bay because of ineffectiveness and conditioning concerns. After two fine seasons with the Packers in 2013 and 2014, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy started to shift the running game away from Lacy. Lacy’s carries have in fact declined every season since his rookie year, when he carried the ball 284 times, to just 71 last season.
Reports and pictures came out about Lacy’s weight and lack of conditioning. Just as quickly as Lacy burst on the scene out of Alabama, he became a non-factor in the NFL.
Lacy’s signing with the Seahawks is a new beginning. His contract has weight incentives, which Lacy has already started earning, and gives him the opportunity to prove himself again to the NFL.
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If Lacy comes to training camp healthy, in shape, angry at the league, and ready to show up his doubters, he could give offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s running game a huge boost. 150 carries and above 4.5 yards a carry will play well for Seattle.