Is Lacy dancing around too much?

[Brandon]

Imagine my surprise when Lacy finished the game against the Vikes with 100 yards rushing, because by watching the game it really didn't seem like he was moving the ball very well with the exception of a few good runs up the seams and some end game domination.

I felt like despite having a good game, a lot of his runs were spent with too much time dancing around and trying to find a hole. He really isn't that type of runner is he? Lacy isn't going to break ankles or have instant acceleration to attack those holes- t0 me he's a hit the pile, drive forward and keep those legs moving type of runner. I'd rather see him get 4 yards every play than 2 yards and occasionally a big run. That's just me though, maybe I'm concerned over nothing.

 

[packerfan4ever]

What I saw yesterday ,Lacy can make plays up the middle he took on a lot of guys, if he can get to the edge he is gone . If he get's loose in the middle he is gone . I think he is finally finding ways to get yards he is our Lynch .

 

[Packerlover]

25 carries 125 yards.... Lacy can dance all he wants!

 

[Packerlover]

Thanks Carl!

 

[Carl]

I will say that Lacy did mjss cut back lanes on some stretch plays, but didn't think he was dancing around. He was a hammer.

 

[OldSchool101]

The end justifies the means.. I saw some opportunites but.. lets face it.. we get a pretty good camera angle and to be fair he's on the ground at 5 11" running around guys that are 6'5".. What I'd like to see more is the change-up.. Putting Starks or Harris in for a series or two.. I think it throws the timing off the Defense and allows Lacy to stay fresh

 

[Poppa San]

Thanks Carl!

You realize he was rating your avatar, doncha?

 

[nlferts]

I will admit, there have been a few games where I have thought that. But fortunately, Lacy has continued to look better each week after a rough start.

 

[searmh]

just being patient and waiting for holes to open up, or seeing whats on offer when our o-line gets handled

 

[Mklangelo]

Imagine my surprise when Lacy finished the game against the Vikes with 100 yards rushing, because by watching the game it really didn't seem like he was moving the ball very well with the exception of a few good runs up the seams and some end game domination.

I felt like despite having a good game, a lot of his runs were spent with too much time dancing around and trying to find a hole. He really isn't that type of runner is he? Lacy isn't going to break ankles or have instant acceleration to attack those holes- t0 me he's a hit the pile, drive forward and keep those legs moving type of runner. I'd rather see him get 4 yards every play than 2 yards and occasionally a big run. That's just me though, maybe I'm concerned over nothing.

Lacy is the kind of running back the Packers have not had in many years.

Lacy has great patience and waits for a hole to develop. Whereas, Grant for example would very often jump right into a pile of the guys composed for the most part of defenders.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Imagine my surprise when Lacy finished the game against the Vikes with 100 yards rushing, because by watching the game it really didn't seem like he was moving the ball very well with the exception of a few good runs up the seams and some end game domination.

I felt like despite having a good game, a lot of his runs were spent with too much time dancing around and trying to find a hole. He really isn't that type of runner is he? Lacy isn't going to break ankles or have instant acceleration to attack those holes- t0 me he's a hit the pile, drive forward and keep those legs moving type of runner. I'd rather see him get 4 yards every play than 2 yards and occasionally a big run. That's just though, maybe I'm concerned over nothing.

He can be, and is, a hit-the-pile-and-drive-forward runner when you're looking to get a yard. You can't expect that from any runner 20 times per game if you want to see him on the field come playoff time and into his second contract.

What you're seeing with the "dancing" is an unusual style for a one-cut-and-go/zone scheme runner. What you typically see in zone scheme is a runner taking the ball either on a fraction of delay or starting the run in a bit of a glide, looking for a hole to open before getting to the line and slashing or cutting back through it. Sometimes the delay is subtle; sometimes it is very obvious as with Ahman Green. The approach helps with vision.

Lacy, on the other hand, takes the ball, gets to the line in a hurry, gets low and hides behind the line, and uses his very quick feet to bounce into a hole if there is one. His style is more like the short, heavy bowling ball backs.

You can't make him into an explosive slasher like Murray, or a glider like Forte, or a speed-to-the-edge guy like Charles. Let Lacy be Lacy, as if there's a choice in the matter.

I'm not sure what game you were watching, but Lacy was rattling off a number of 5-10 yd. runs against the Vikings with that dancing. It doesn't make for much of a highlight reel, but those runs together with Bridgewater's inaccuracy were the margin of victory.

One more note...Lacy is averaging 4.4 yds/carry with only 2 runs over 20 yards. That's highly effective running. Those clock-burning 5 consecutive short runs at the end of the Vikings game should warm the heart.

Now, there has been a recent quote from Lacy that he's considering dropping some weight next season. If so, we might see him getting to the edge a bit quicker. For now, he's a north-south load of goodness.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

I think that Lacy isn't really getting into a rythm in many games (when you have Rodgers throwing the ball, you don't run that often) and tackles are average to terrible at run blocking. Bulaga is an alright run blocker while Bakhtiari is a straight-up liability in the run game (but he's good in the pass game and protecting Rodgers is prioroty #1).

 

[HardRightEdge]

I think that Lacy isn't really getting into a rythm in many games (when you have Rodgers throwing the ball, you don't run that often) and tackles are average to terrible at run blocking. Bulaga is an alright run blocker while Bakhtiari is a straight-up liability in the run game (but he's good in the pass game and protecting Rodgers is prioroty #1).

Bakhtiari is probably leading the league in holding calls...again. He gets the job done, but not without vulnerabilities.

 

[Mklangelo]

Bhaktiari is probably leading the league in holding calls...again. He gets the job done, but not without vulnerabilities.

Speaking of Packer Tackles and penalties, I thought of this guy: Mark Tausher had seven career holding penalties in 122 games with only 24 false starts!

Now Bahktiari has 5 holding penalties just this year and one false start.

 

[El Guapo]

Lacy has great patience and waits for a hole to develop. Whereas, Grant for example would very often jump right into a pile of the guys composed for the most part of defenders.

Dancing might be confused with patience depending on how happy Lacy's feet are while he's waiting for the hole to develop. In the beginning of the season he did a lot of "dancing" since our O-line wasn't opening up any holes. Now he's able to be more decisive because they are opening up the Dead Sea at times. I'd rather have a back with patience than not, but there is merit to just hitting the line if holes aren't opening up. Better to have a no-gain versus a 1-2 yard loss.

Barry Sanders danced behind the line a lot, and subsequently had a lot of negative runs. Remember the game in 1993 or 1994 when the Packers held the great Barry Sanders to a total of -1 or -2 yards? He did a lot of clog dancing that day.

 

[Mklangelo]

Dancing might be confused with patience depending on how happy Lacy's feet are while he's waiting for the hole to develop. In the beginning of the season he did a lot of "dancing" since our O-line wasn't opening up any holes. Now he's able to be more decisive because they are opening up the Dead Sea at times. I'd rather have a back with patience than not, but there is merit to just hitting the line if holes aren't opening up. Better to have a no-gain versus a 1-2 yard loss.

Barry Sanders danced behind the line a lot, and subsequently had a lot of negative runs. Remember the game in 1993 or 1994 when the Packers held the great Barry Sanders to a total of -1 or -2 yards? He did a lot of clog dancing that day.

Point taken.

As I recall, the Pack usually did a pretty solid job of containing Sanders.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Speaking of Packer Tackles and penalties, I thought of this guy: Mark Tausher had seven career holding penalties in 122 games with only 24 false starts!

Now Bakhtiari has 5 holding penalties just this year and one false start.

Actually, the 5 holds is better than I thought; he also has an unsportsmanlike conduct. Last season he had 10 holds plus an illegal use of hands, so I guess there's some progress there. Tauscher was a very good player in both pass pro and run. While run blocking is not the reason Bakhtiari is out there, I don't think we could call him average in the run game.

 

[JBlood]

Lacy, and the o-line, were terrific in the last few minutes. Those running first downs won the game. Hard to find anything to criticize imo.

 

[El Guapo]

Point taken.

I'm a bit shocked that after re-reading my post, nobody has blasted me for comparing Eddie Lacy to Barry Sanders....in a roundabout way!

 

[Mklangelo]

I'm a bit shocked that after re-reading my post, nobody has blasted me for comparing Eddie Lacy to Barry Sanders....in a roundabout way!

Lacy is good, but not that good.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I'm a bit shocked that after re-reading my post, nobody has blasted me for comparing Eddie Lacy to Barry Sanders....in a roundabout way!

Since you insist, consider yourself blasted. Not because Sanders is so, so much better, HOFer, or any of that. Rather because they're entirely different backs with entirely different dance steps.

 

[Forget Favre]

On the subject of dancing, what happened to the Packers celebration dances?
I guess Air-Run doesn't feel the need to run the ball in for a TD anymore since we have Lacy to do it for him.
I miss watching him put the belt on. Will he still do it? Has he done it this season yet?
And what happened to Clay and the predator pose after the sack? Are these guys like not doing this anymore?
What is up with that?

 

[El Guapo]

They matured?

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Imagine my surprise when Lacy finished the game against the Vikes with 100 yards rushing, because by watching the game it really didn't seem like he was moving the ball very well with the exception of a few good runs up the seams and some end game domination.

I felt like despite having a good game, a lot of his runs were spent with too much time dancing around and trying to find a hole. He really isn't that type of runner is he? Lacy isn't going to break ankles or have instant acceleration to attack those holes- t0 me he's a hit the pile, drive forward and keep those legs moving type of runner. I'd rather see him get 4 yards every play than 2 yards and occasionally a big run. That's just me though, maybe I'm concerned over nothing.

remember the plays where there was nothing up the middle and he broke it to the outside. That's because he has great feet. A big guy with great feet. The last back I saw like that was called the Bus. Lacy can pound or he can move. That's what makes him a great back.

 

[realcaliforniacheese]

Speaking of Packer Tackles and penalties, I thought of this guy: Mark Tausher had seven career holding penalties in 122 games with only 24 false starts!

Now Bahktiari has 5 holding penalties just this year and one false start.

Really!! Wow, I wasn't counting, I was only counting the number of times Rodgers was not on his *** because of Bahktiari. Tausher was a RT. He wasn't the guy facing the premier pass rusher on the other teams D. Seriously, he's a second year guy picked in the 4th round. Give him a little more time before you expect perfection.