The Eddie Lacy ROY Campaign

[Shanghai Pack]

Happy we won today, but all the injuries are really bumming me out. Wanting to start something a thread that was strictly positive.

Eddie Lacy has been incredibly impressive thus far this season. He's got the burst to hit gaps while they're open, a nifty spin move to make guys miss and the power to run through tackles. He's still not a great threat in the passing attack yet, but otherwise, he's everything we could have asked and hoped for from a rookie.

I'm certainly not trying to jinx it, but I think after gaining 100 in Baltimore against their run defense, which has been very good, it might be time to think about whether Lacy has a chance at winning the Offensive Rookie of
the Year (I think this was the game that will gain the attention of non-Packers fans to how good he's been).

Anyways, the way I see it at the moment, there's likely only a few candidates for the ROY. In addition to Lacy, Giovanni Bernard, Geno Smith, and maybe EJ Manuel if he gets back sooner rather than later from injury (I'm writing off guys like Tavon Austin and DeAndre Hopkins and others).

I was thinking after the game's each week, we could compare how each of those candidates fared and how they stack up for the season so far.

Week 6 Results:
Geno Smith: 19/34 for 201 yrds, 0 TD and 1 INT. He had 8 yrds rushing and was sacked 3 times. Total QB Rating of 48.8. Team lost 19-6.
Giovanni Bernard: 15 carries for 28 yrds and 6 catches for 72 yrds and 1 TD. Team won 27-24 in OT.
Eddie Lacy: 23 carries for 120 yrds and 1 catch for 5 yrds. Team won 19-17.

For the season thus far Lacy, in what's essentially only been 3 games, has 270 yards on 61 carries for a 4.42 YPC average. He has 1 rushing TD. He also has 3 catches for 34 yrds. In 6 games, Bernard has 237 yrds on 60 carries for a 3.95 YPC and he has 2 rushing TDs. He also has 20 catches for 201 yrds and 2 TDs.

Right now, you'd have to give it to Bernard based on his dual protection in both the rushing and passing game and that he's got a 4-1 TD advantage (I think that matters to a lot of voters). But hopefully Lacy will start getting in the end zone more and can get a larger rushing lead over Bernard once the Bengals go on bye.

 

[I_am_smoked_cheddar]

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ?

It's possible, much will depend on the O-Line opening those holes for Lacey. Moreno in Denver is running/scoring. It's too early to call. The #'s will speak the loudest & reaching the playoffs is essential. Points scored will not be denied. Lets think good thoughts for Eddie and leave off jinxing our new young star.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Moreno? He's not a rookie. It's like his fifth season.

And I don't really believe in jinxes. Only said it to try and steer clear the fans who do. I'm hoping for a legit discussion on his chances. It's too early to say anything for certain except that he's one of the limited number of guys who are in the discussion.

 

[I_am_smoked_cheddar]

Moreno? He's not a rookie. It's like his fifth season.

And I don't really believe in jinxes. Only said it to try and steer clear the fans who do. I'm hoping for a legit discussion on his chances. It's too early to say anything for certain except that he's one of the limited number of guys who are in the discussion.

You're right about Moreno, 5th season out of Georgia.
I still believe it's too early for Rookie of the Year discussions, but he will be in the conversation. I'll revisit the subject in mid Dec. when I believe it is valid to have such a discussion.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Fair enough man. Welcome you back in Dec. I'm going to keep weekly track though as I'm going to be strongly rooting for it. It definitely is early days, but that's why I called it a campaign: campaigns start months before the actual vote happens. Plus if Lacy does wind up ROY, it'll likely mean the Packers have been very successful too; which is always the most important thing. In the meantime, I welcome the comments of others. Go Pack!

 

[NorthWestCheeseHead]

Only week 6 bro and Lacy has only played 3 complete games; too early to say anything.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

You're completely right. It's too early to say anything definitively. Luckily I'm not saying anything; I'm not saying he's the front runner or that he ought to win or even that he will win.

The season's a third over and he's one of a handful of guys who are in competition for the reward and I think it'd be fun to track those guys throughout the year and root for Lacy. That's was my point in making this thread, to root for and discuss something I hope happens, not to say that it will or to argue (even worse) that it's already locked up.

 

[Trapped In Vikingville]

You're completely right. It's too early to say anything definitively. Luckily I'm not saying anything; I'm not saying he's the front runner or that he ought to win or even that he will win.

The season's a third over and he's one of a handful of guys who are in competition for the reward and I think it'd be fun to track those guys throughout the year and root for Lacy. That's was my point in making this thread, to root for and discuss something I hope happens, not to say that it will or to argue (even worse) that it's already locked up.

Hey, it's never too early! The Vikings Super Bowl tickets went on sale right after the Steelers game in London!

 

[BamaFan]

You guys got a potential steal with Lacy. I'm a Bama fan and watched him his whole college career. Injuries are the only question with him. He has the size, speed and agility combination to be amazing.

 

[HardRightEdge]

My comments in preseason: "Lacy is the real deal." "Lacy is TT's Steven Jackson reasonable facsimile."

My comment before the BALT game: "Lacy is a north-south load of goodness."

Forget comparisons with other rookies...Lacy is a great fit with what we do. And the fact he's being effective in both the zone scheme and the gap blocking/pulling stuff they're mixing in now says a lot about his vision and instincts.

I've noticed EDS has been getting some credit for his second level blocks. The one's I've noticed have been chips. It says something when all a back needs is a chip to go barrel through the second level.

Did I say he's really, really good? Let's hope he stays healthy.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

yeah, there was three times that I saw that our line opened holes wide enough to fit oprah winfrey through.....Lacy made use of what the line gave him and made the defense pay. He will only get better with time. What he has shown us so far is just a preview.

 

[12theTruth]

Eddie Lacy had me from hello. Speed for a player his size. Brings toughness to the short yardage running game. Has demonstrated uncanny football IQ for a rookie out on the field. It is early but the future is indeed bright for this young man.

I think I'm going to start a similar thread to this for Coach Mike McCarthy around midseason if the Packers weather the injury typhoon and still keep winning. Unbelievable that 5 of the Packers position groups have seen such upheaval either in the offseason or from an epic injury bug infestation to this point this season which is not even 1/3rd of the way completed yet for the Packers.

 

[gbpowner]

The best damn play of the whole game came when the Packers were in a third and 2 situation and they finally gave it to Lacy who gained 3 or 4 yards! I could have cried tears of joy at not seeing Rodgers in the shotgun and the big man rumbling up the middle for a first down!

 

[AZpackerbacker]

It's kind of early to be talking about ROY......Lacy only has three games to latch onto, so it's a bit premature at this time. However, if he keeps up this pace, he should have the OROY safe in hand.......

 

[easyk83]

Happy we won today, but all the injuries are really bumming me out. Wanting to start something a thread that was strictly positive.

Eddie Lacy has been incredibly impressive thus far this season. He's got the burst to hit gaps while they're open, a nifty spin move to make guys miss and the power to run through tackles. He's still not a great threat in the passing attack yet, but otherwise, he's everything we could have asked and hoped for from a rookie.

I'm certainly not trying to jinx it, but I think after gaining 100 in Baltimore against their run defense, which has been very good, it might be time to think about whether Lacy has a chance at winning the Offensive Rookie of
the Year (I think this was the game that will gain the attention of non-Packers fans to how good he's been).

Anyways, the way I see it at the moment, there's likely only a few candidates for the ROY. In addition to Lacy, Giovanni Bernard, Geno Smith, and maybe EJ Manuel if he gets back sooner rather than later from injury (I'm writing off guys like Tavon Austin and DeAndre Hopkins and others).

I was thinking after the game's each week, we could compare how each of those candidates fared and how they stack up for the season so far.

Week 6 Results:
Geno Smith: 19/34 for 201 yrds, 0 TD and 1 INT. He had 8 yrds rushing and was sacked 3 times. Total QB Rating of 48.8. Team lost 19-6.
Giovanni Bernard: 15 carries for 28 yrds and 6 catches for 72 yrds and 1 TD. Team won 27-24 in OT.
Eddie Lacy: 23 carries for 120 yrds and 1 catch for 5 yrds. Team won 19-17.

For the season thus far Lacy, in what's essentially only been 3 games, has 270 yards on 61 carries for a 4.42 YPC average. He has 1 rushing TD. He also has 3 catches for 34 yrds. In 6 games, Bernard has 237 yrds on 60 carries for a 3.95 YPC and he has 2 rushing TDs. He also has 20 catches for 201 yrds and 2 TDs.

Right now, you'd have to give it to Bernard based on his dual protection in both the rushing and passing game and that he's got a 4-1 TD advantage (I think that matters to a lot of voters). But hopefully Lacy will start getting in the end zone more and can get a larger rushing lead over Bernard once the Bengals go on bye.

He certainly could wind up in RoY conversations. I suspect we're going to have to lean on him heavily for the next few games. A grind it out ball control Offense could be in the works with our injuries on Offense.

 

[Shawnsta3]

He should certainly be in the rookie of the year conversation at this point..

Not to say he's been the most impressive rookie on this team though.. IMO that would be David Bakhtiari who was a fourth round tackle taken in a draft where there was five in the first round alone. He's passed all of them.

Heck, this might have been Ted's best draft yet, when in recent memory have so many rookies made such a positive impact in their first year? Lacy, Bakthiari, Jones, Hyde, Franklin. Wow.

 

[NorthWestCheeseHead]

You're completely right. It's too early to say anything definitively. Luckily I'm not saying anything; I'm not saying he's the front runner or that he ought to win or even that he will win.

The season's a third over and he's one of a handful of guys who are in competition for the reward and I think it'd be fun to track those guys throughout the year and root for Lacy. That's was my point in making this thread, to root for and discuss something I hope happens, not to say that it will or to argue (even worse) that it's already locked up.

I agree that he is an outstanding player and will continue to play at a level that should warrant ROY consideration. But he's really only played 3.5 games with the concussion and the bye week. All I'm saying is that I want to see more before I'd be comfortable with the sample size to feel confident about it.

 

[Oshkoshpackfan]

I think we could revisit this conversation by week 12. If he keeps up the same head of steam, then yes indeed he could be in consideration, but as of right now, no.

 

[TJV]

I really don’t care if Lacy wins ROY or if any Packers win any post season awards (the only exception is Super Bowl MVP because of course that would very likely mean the Packers won another title). But I am excited about what we've seen from Lacy. Here’s what McGinn had to say about Lacy in his review of the Ravens game:

With 1:38 left, Lacy had 21 carries. On his 9-yard burst straight up the middle, you could see the toll his big body takes on tacklers. The play appeared to be designed to go wide, but Lacy saw penetration, cut it off and bee-lined straight up the gut. Bakhtiari's ability to get Canty on the ground enabled Lacy to reach the second level. From the left, the hard-hitting Ihedigbo had a choice. He could stick his face into Lacy from the side and attempt a punishing wrap-up tackle. Instead, Ihedigbo attempted a form of cross-body block in which he hurled his 215 pounds at the runaway rookie. Absorbing the body blow, Lacy kept on truckin' before the secondary dragged him down after a gain of 9. Obviously, Lacy is far more than a bull-like closer. He exploded through the line so fast on a 37-yard run that he beat Elam to the spot and went for another 20. It took Jimmy Smith a span of 13 yards to drag him down. Lacy dipped in and dipped out and exercised patience, helping the blockers make him look good and vice versa. His blitz pickup was so-so. Seeing yeoman's duty, he played 59 of 68 snaps…

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/rating-the-packers-vs-the-ravens-b99119824z1-227766071.html

 

[Bensalama21]

Ladainian Tomlinson on NFL network ranked Eddie Lacy the #1 runningback of week 6... That's a good start!

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Week 7 Results:

Geno Smith: 17/33 for 233 yrds, 1 Passing TD, 1 INT on a 71.9 QB Rating. Also ran 6 times for 32 yrds and 1 TD. Team won 30-27 in OT.
Giovanni Bernard: 7 carries for 27 yrds (a 3.9 YPC average) and 5 catches for 32 yrds. Team won 27-24
Eddie Lacy: 22 carries for 82 yrds (a 3.7 YPC average) and 1 TD, 5 catches for 26 yrds. Packers won 31-13.

Lacy Analysis:
Lacy had a good day running against the Browns. He had several nice runs for 5+ yrds but never did break off a long one. He does seem to have an innate ability to squirm or push or whatever he needs to do to get an extra yrd or two on every run, which is great to watch and root for. He added in a very surprising 5 catches (where'd that come from?), but his most impressive moment with his hands is when he almost picked up an off target Rodgers toss from the turf with one hand. If Lacy is able to catch the ball consistently, it'll be a great buoy to the team and his chances in the race. With all that said, the best aspect of Lacy's game today in my opinion isn't going to be in the box score: I thought he did a great job in pass protection. He stepped up into a lot of would be blitzers and held his ground and helped blocked on the edge when needed to. As a whole the Browns only got one sack and didn't get as much pressure as previous teams have been able to (they were an large number of holding penalties though).

Race Analysis:
Bernard still holds a total yrds edge of 497 to 412 and a TD edge of 4-2 over Lacy at the moment. His team also appears to be very likely to win it's division. Of course, Bernard hasn't been as effective the runner Lacy has based on YPC and his team hasn't fully turned to him as the main RB the way the Packers have with Lacy. Additionally Bernard has essentially had two more games than Lacy to get those stats. I remain confident that Lacy will be able to overtake Bernard in both objective statistics and the subjective perceptions of the voters in time. Next week will be a great opportunity for Lacy as the Vikings have been one of the worst teams against the run this season and Bernard goes against the Jets who have been one of the best running D's (the best in my opinion).

The other player in the equation could end up being the bigger threat to Lacy's chance. Geno Smith has been erratic at times with double digit interceptions and some very low completion percentages. But the Jets are 4-3 and have a chance to sneak into the playoffs based on a very stout defense. Geno has also had the benefit of having some big light moments with the Jets-Pats being a national game and the Falcons win (his best game by far) being on prime time. If the Jets do win a wild card spot, I have a hard time believing that in today's NFL, with all the focus on the QB, that Geno Smith wouldn't win rookie of the year for that accomplishment, regardless of how many turnovers he had and how well the rookie RB's played.

 

[ivo610]

The drews friends who sat behind us at the Bengals game were insistent that Lacy "sucked". I believe they were a couple, and they were sure of it. I tired to point out he has played 1 whole nfl game against the 9ers and thats all they were basing it off of. Still, they were sure.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Week 8 Results:

Geno Smith: 20-30 for 159 yrds and 2 INT, with a 51.9 Passing Rating and a 4.1 QBR. Also had 2 rushes for 8 yrds and was sacked 3 times. Team lost 49-9.
Giovanni Bernard: 5 carries for 18 yrds on a 3.6 YPC average, 1 catch for 9 yrds. Team won 49-9.
Eddie Lacy: 29 carries for 94 yrds on a 3.2 YPC average, 1 Rush TD and 4 catches for 18 yrds. Packers won 44-31.

Lacy Analysis:
Lacy struggled a bit in the first half to get good yardage consistently on his runs. He had several 0 and 1 yard carries and one large negative run where Barclay missed his guy completely. He came alive on the first possession the second half though with 5 (based on my count) runs of over 7 yards on the drive that ultimately ended up with him scoring a TD. More importantly that drive lead to constant gushing from Collinsworth and Michaels about his performance and 'hammer' like running style. Announcer banter might not mean much but for the purposes of the ROY race it can be a nice window into the mindset of the voters of the awards. I thought it would be immensely important for Lacy to have a good performance in his first prime time game and he didn't disappoint. Lacy finished with some late game kill-the-clock runs that combined with his first quarter small runs leading to the small YPC average. He also added another 4 short catches, illustrating the chance that he might be useful enough as a pass catcher to stay in the game in all situations, including 3rd and longs. I think this bodes very well for the Packers as previously there might have been a temptation to put Franklin in the game in a situation like that to chip block and then curl out to the flat. However, Lacy's pass blocking is much better than Franklin's and if he's able to catch the ball consistently, Lacy will have the opportunity to stay there for those situations. That helps the whole team as we'll have a guy who can more consistently pick up a blitzing LB or DB and give Rodgers time to make a play.

Race Analysis:
This was a moving day in the ROY race. Geno Smith looked really bad in the Jets-Bengals game. His two interceptions were both pick sixes, giving him three pick sixes in two weeks. He struggled in all aspects of his game play and was only able to use super short throws to gain positive yards. His accuracy on deeper throws was really off.

For his part as well, Giovanni Bernard did not have a big day. He only had 5 carries and 2 targets in the passing game. The Bengals got up so much on the Jets that they were able to rest their starters a large portion of the second half, meaning Bernard wasn't being utilized. That's ultimately not on Bernard, but taking a day off statistically does have its repercussions in what is essentially a statistical race.

I think Lacy has finally managed to jump ahead of both Smith and Bernard in an objective statistical sense and in the subjective sense of how much analysts and commentators believe his play is positively impacting his team. It's the mid way point of the season, so there's a lot of games to be played still. But I think Lacy would win the award if the season ended today. Hopefully he can keep up this level of play for the second part of the season. Looking ahead a little at the Packers schedule, that aspiration seems very achievable. Lacy has another prime time matchup against the Bears on Monday night next week meaning another chance to make a great impression on a large audience and further increase his candidacy for the ROY.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Bleacher Report just did it's NFL mid-season awards and they choose Eddie Lacy as the mid-season offensive ROY, just ahead of Geno Smith and Giovanni Bernard.

Here's the link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1830206-bleacher-reports-midseason-nfl-awards/page/6

I think the difference will widen as the season progresses.

 

[Shanghai Pack]

Oh also in a different article on Bleacher report about the teams current Super Bowl odds, a different writer called Lacy 'the front runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year."

Link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1830615-midseason-super-bowl-odds-for-every-nfl-team/page/29

The front runner has a nice sound to it.