Packers Running Back Lacy's Injury History

[pbmax]

From McGinn this morning on his injury history: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/back-for-the-future-pk9nk2e-204970531.html


But Lacy's injury history probably was the root cause why the entire league turned him down not once but twice in the draft.

Injuries limited Lacy to seven games as a high-school senior in 2008. After redshirting in 2009, he made it through the 2010 season intact before being affected by a turf toe injury down the stretch in 2011 and undergoing surgery in January 2012.

Last season, Lacy had an elbow injury and then a left hand injury that one personnel man said required the insertion of seven screws late in the year.

At the combine in February, Lacy couldn't work out because of pectoral and knee injuries. He also came up with a pulled hamstring that eliminated him from Alabama pro day March 13.

Finally, on April 11, Lacy ran a 40-yard dash (4.6 seconds) and performed drills, but became fatigued quickly and left some scouts looking for much more.

While I am not a believer in the TWO MAJOR INJURIES MEANS YOU NEVER DRAFT A PLAYER hypothesis that we learned about after Justin Harrell was selected, this list gives me great pause. Feel free to tell me why it shouldn't.

Without research here are the holes I see:

1. Injury in high school cost him an unknown number of games for an unknown injury. Appendicitis? Car wreck? Coach bench him because he was dating his daughter?

2. Turf toe injury allowed him to play and then required surgery. Doesn't seem catastrophic.

3. He had seven screws inserted but played in the Championship game, no?

4. Would pectoral and knee injury have kept him out of a game? Was it just agent manipulation so he could work out at the Pro Day (which then backfired with a hamstring injury)?

[Upnorth]

Oh boy, not what I wanted to see about lacy

[rbaloha1]

All rb's have an injury history.

My bigger concern is Lacy's running style which leads to a shorter nfl career.

Green or Benson must be in the rotation.

[Pugger]

Of course Lacy is not going to be asked to carry the team like AP in MN. We actually have the top QB in the game.

[rbaloha1]

Of course Lacy is not going to be asked to carry the team like AP in MN. We actually have the top QB in the game.

Watch the highlight tape.

Lacy is expected to close-out games which leads to 20-25 carries per game.

[Fritz]

All I want is for him to be able to pick up a yard and a half when it's third and one, and to close out games when the Packers are trying to run clock. Oh, and not get tackled for loss much, either.

[rbaloha1]

It is clear Mcginn does not like this pick.

Disagree big time.

[Bretsky]

This is why he fell to where he did; the dude is the all around most talented RB in the draft, but many GM's preferred more durable RB's with a history of being healthy over Lacy's past history. That is why he fell. I'll reserve judgement and take a wait and see approach. My gut tells me GB preferred Monte Ball, (as the NFL Network was reporting although in reality they don't have any more facts than we do so they are just speculating) and Denver did as well.

We got this talent because other teams feared his injury and felt he came into his Pro Day unprepared. There was plenty of buzz out there after his pro day that NFL attendees were disappointed.

So let's call a spade a spade. Eddie Lacy was the "4th" RB chosen in this years draft because other teams didn't want to take the other risks. Green Bay was ready to.

Time will tell

[Guiness]

Wow, that list certainly gives me pause as well. Even the turf toe, it never really goes away, I've had surgery for it myself that was not very successful and it still bothers me daily. Didn't CWood occasionally miss games because of it?

'one personal man'? Does he or doesn't he have 7 screws? You wouldn't think that would be hard to find out.

[Bretsky]

I kind of thought all you dude's knew about this already; part of the reason my preference, besides being a Badger Homer, with Monte Ball was he is very solid at all phases of the game and he has been reliable in terms of not having serious injuries. Hopefully I don't jinx him now as I think Denver is a great fit and Ball has always been a fan of the Broncos so speaking with John Elway had to be awesome.

I don't think McGinn hates the pick; but dude is trying to sell papers so brining all this to the table will sell papers.

[rbaloha1]

I kind of thought all you dude's knew about this already; part of the reason my preference, besides being a Badger Homer, with Monte Ball was he is very solid at all phases of the game and he has been reliable in terms of not having serious injuries. Hopefully I don't jinx him now as I think Denver is a great fit and Ball has always been a fan of the Broncos so speaking with John Elway had to be awesome.

I don't think McGinn hates the pick; but dude is trying to sell papers so brining all this to the table will sell papers.

What about his head injury?

[rbaloha1]

I kind of thought all you dude's knew about this already; part of the reason my preference, besides being a Badger Homer, with Monte Ball was he is very solid at all phases of the game and he has been reliable in terms of not having serious injuries. Hopefully I don't jinx him now as I think Denver is a great fit and Ball has always been a fan of the Broncos so speaking with John Elway had to be awesome.

I don't think McGinn hates the pick; but dude is trying to sell papers so brining all this to the table will sell papers.

Okay then the Packers can not use Mcginn to put out propaganda.

What is your obsession with Mcginn? Do you secretly love him?

[pbmax]

My gut tells me GB preferred Monte Ball, (as the NFL Network was reporting although in reality they don't have any more facts than we do so they are just speculating) and Denver did as well.
l

This makes sense if held up to Thompson's philosophy of trading back if there are several players of similar value. However, I wonder if there wasn't a non-RB or two in the mix they would have preferred? Perhaps not. Thompson has gone against first instincts before but those were trades up with one exception.

Its assumed the Harrell pick was made when the Packers preferred player was chosen and they couldn't go back for enough to justify passing on Harrell.

His trades down this time seem to indicate he is working his preferred method. So I wonder of they simply did not feel there were many defenders/other players left worth a third round grade.

[pbmax]

I cannot find anything about his hand this year. You would think surgery on an All American RB before the Championship game would have made the papers.

[Willard]

Watch the highlight tape.

Lacy is expected to close-out games which leads to 20-25 carries per game.
I will take this. What I want: conversions on 3rd or 4th down with less than 2 yds to go (sorry, Kuhn doesn't cut it); legitimate running threat on 1st and 2nd down to keep defenses on edge; increase in Pack's TOP to help keep it's soft defense off the field; grind out wins on ground with 4th qtr lead. Come on Lacy, don't let us down!

[Willard]

All I want is for him to be able to pick up a yard and a half when it's third and one, and to close out games when the Packers are trying to run clock. Oh, and not get tackled for loss much, either.
Oops. I posted almost the same thing. Great minds....

[rbaloha1]

Oops. I posted almost the same thing. Great minds....

Please -- do not encourage them:eyes:

[HarveyWallbangers]

Ball, Lacy, and Lattimore are the only RBs I wanted from this draft, but let's not pretend the other two backs don't have red flags either. Ball was very overworked in college. There are smaller guys that can handle a heavy workload for a long career (Curtis Martin, Emmitt Smith), but it's more likely that the carries add up on Ball and he doesn't make it to 30 as an effective RB. Which is actually not a huge concern for me. If Denver and Green Bay can get five good years out of these guys, I think they will be happy. I think Lacy is probably a first round talent with injury concerns. I think Ball is probably top of the second round talent with workload concerns. Lattimore is a whole 'nother level concern with his two major knee injuries.

[MadtownPacker]

Please -- do not encourage them:eyes:
Slow your role or you might encourage me also...........

[Pugger]

All I want is for him to be able to pick up a yard and a half when it's third and one, and to close out games when the Packers are trying to run clock. Oh, and not get tackled for loss much, either.

Or even break a tackle or 2.

[RashanGary]

I kind of thought all you dude's knew about this already; part of the reason my preference, besides being a Badger Homer, with Monte Ball was he is very solid at all phases of the game and he has been reliable in terms of not having serious injuries. Hopefully I don't jinx him now as I think Denver is a great fit and Ball has always been a fan of the Broncos so speaking with John Elway had to be awesome.

I don't think McGinn hates the pick; but dude is trying to sell papers so brining all this to the table will sell papers.


I'll 2nd this.

McGinn pointing out the injury thing. . . I think that's just the way of it. It was a very high upside pick with a high amount of risk. I'm OK with that. e took a similar risk on Woodson. Wolf took a risk with Favre.

It's not like they payed full price for the risk either. If Lacy had a sparkling health record, he might have been gone before our first pick. He's a real talent.

[RashanGary]

Blowing the 16th on Harrell hurts bad, because it was a high pick. If Lacy ends up injured and busts because of it, I'll be fine with the pick because I think the 60th pick is worth the risk.

[Mazzin]

The packers got em a little insurace policy with J. Franklin. I know a lot of people dont give a hoot about what Mike Mayock thinks, but he did say we got the number 1 and 2 running backs on HIS board. Take it for what its worth.

[packrulz]

He's a good kid, isn't into partying or any of that stuff, but needs to stay motivated. Should be a wake-up call for him, and that, coupled with the Packers drafting plenty of competition at his position, should keep him pushed as well. Could turn out to be a total steal there, because some on the Alabama staff believe he has more talent than Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson -- former Alabama backs who recently went in the first round (and in Richardson's case, near the top of the first round). http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/jason-la-canfora/22152820/massive-weekend-for-the-packers-and-other-thoughts-after-7-rounds-of-the-nfl-draft

[mission]

Read a quote from a teammate of Lacy's that he never missed a practice. Watch the guy run, he's a maniac-- of course he's going to have dings, but he doesn't really miss time from them. Nice thing here is that part of Saban's recruiting pitch is that he's always going to run two RBs (Lacy & Yeldon) so he won't kill them (like Lattimore / Spurrier) and have more opportunities in the NFL.

I watched just about every Lacy carry and ran circles around my living room when he got selected. This is a huge steal for the Packers.

[Freak Out]

I am happy with both of the RB picks. The Packers needed a nice thunder and lightning backfield tandem. I liked what I saw in Harris last winter but I really think the team needed something like this. Rotate these guys and let's roooooollll!

[rbaloha1]

Read a quote from a teammate of Lacy's that he never missed a practice. Watch the guy run, he's a maniac-- of course he's going to have dings, but he doesn't really miss time from them. Nice thing here is that part of Saban's recruiting pitch is that he's always going to run two RBs (Lacy & Yeldon) so he won't kill them (like Lattimore / Spurrier) and have more opportunities in the NFL.

I watched just about every Lacy carry and ran circles around my living room when he got selected. This is a huge steal for the Packers.

The guy is a gamer unlike the current crop

[pbmax]

Read a quote from a teammate of Lacy's that he never missed a practice. Watch the guy run, he's a maniac-- of course he's going to have dings, but he doesn't really miss time from them. Nice thing here is that part of Saban's recruiting pitch is that he's always going to run two RBs (Lacy & Yeldon) so he won't kill them (like Lattimore / Spurrier) and have more opportunities in the NFL.

I watched just about every Lacy carry and ran circles around my living room when he got selected. This is a huge steal for the Packers.

That is the one silver lining in that injury history, outside of the high school stuff. Several of those nicks, dings and injuries resulted in lost games. The exception was the

[pbmax]

Read a quote from a teammate of Lacy's that he never missed a practice. Watch the guy run, he's a maniac-- of course he's going to have dings, but he doesn't really miss time from them. Nice thing here is that part of Saban's recruiting pitch is that he's always going to run two RBs (Lacy & Yeldon) so he won't kill them (like Lattimore / Spurrier) and have more opportunities in the NFL.

I watched just about every Lacy carry and ran circles around my living room when he got selected. This is a huge steal for the Packers.

That is the one silver lining in that injury history, outside of the high school stuff. Several of those nicks, dings and injuries resulted in no lost games.

[smuggler]

It is clear Mcginn does not like this pick.

Disagree big time.


Okay then the Packers can not use Mcginn to put out propaganda.

What is your obsession with Mcginn? Do you secretly love him?

:-o

[mission]

Want to like Lacy even more? Watch this ESPN E:60 on him and his family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ena1vwZ6AIg

[Brandon494]

Franklin is going to be a Ray Rice type running back for us being able to catch out of the backfield while Lacy will bring more of a Frank Gore running style. Really wish Ted would have went after a hard nose blocking FB though to add to the backfield.

[pbmax]

That is the one silver lining in that injury history, outside of the high school stuff. Several of those nicks, dings and injuries resulted in NO lost games. The exception was the

Not sure how the correction ended up as a separate post, but this post should have said NO lost games for the bumps while at Alabama.

[pbmax]

On Lacy's toe injury from the Pittsburgh Press Gazette via Dougherty and the GBPG:


According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- http://bit.ly/151Z3MU -- the Steelers passed on the Alabama running back because of a toe injury. According to the report, a Steelers source said the team "would not touch Lacy because his big toe had been fused."

http://www.packersnews.com/article/20130428/PKR0101/130428017

[mission]

Fused before last season. Took him half the season to really get going, but didn't show any ill effects in the second half.

It's obviously some concern, which is why TT hedged with Franklin.

[woodbuck27]

http://fansided.com/2013/04/27/nfl-draft-2013-green-bay-packers-view-eddie-lacy-as-every-down-back/

NFL Draft 2013: Green Bay Packers View Eddie Lacy as Every-Down Back

Apr 27th, 2013 at 12:39 pm by Josh Hill

" ...“We feel really good about taking him,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said, via the Journal-Sentinal. “We really did. He’s big and powerful. He’s got a great lateral cut and spin move. He’s played at a fairly high level. Good kid.”

But one of the reasons Lacy reportedly fell as far back as he did was due to some teams labeling him as brittle. Packers general manager Ted Thompson was asked about this but shrugged it off as a concern by saying he feels “pretty good” about the chances Lacy can stay healthy." Fr. LINK

GO PACK GO !

[rbaloha1]

Franklin is going to be a Ray Rice type running back for us being able to catch out of the backfield while Lacy will bring more of a Frank Gore running style. Really wish Ted would have went after a hard nose blocking FB though to add to the backfield.

Unfortunately for Hoge the fb is being deemphasized.

TE's like Taylor can play the role.

Miss my Hendu

[George Cumby]

Meh. Hard hitting running style, a few dings. To be expected. Ran hard and fast with no issues cutting in the championship game.

He should be okay.

[woodbuck27]

All I want is for him to be able to pick up a yard and a half when it's third and one, and to close out games when the Packers are trying to run clock. Oh, and not get tackled for loss much, either.

I looked at this fella alot on video.

The one thing I noticed about his running style is he's 'straight ahead'. He doesn't dance around or move laterally alot. He heads north... pronto.

Because of his size and lower body strength he fights hard for every inch. Not alot of finesse; just move the ball some more, style of running. He runs with heart.

The concern 'of course' is his injury history. That should haven give any team pause in drafting him unless he had fallen to a position that he was too irrestible. I looked at the draft...and RB... in reference to the timing and TT selecting Eddie Lacy and then following up in Rd. 4 and RB Johnathan Franklin. What can be interpreted fr. that move?

a) Was TT not sure of his pick of Eddie Lacy and therefore doubling down at RB to add insurance?

b) Were TT and MM getting ready to clean house in terms of current RB's on the Packer roster?

c) A combination of the above and a brand new focus on our running game?

Here's the draft and RB down to TT selecting RB Johnathan Franklin 4th Rd.

** Giovani Bernard 'off the board'... Rd. 2 Pick #37 (Bengals)

** Le'Veon Bell Rd. 2 Pick #48 (Steelers)

** Montee Ball Rd. 2 Pick #58 (Broncos) We're aware that TT was in contact with him.

** Eddie Lacy Rd. 2 Pick #61 (Packers)

** Christine Michael Rd. 2 Pick #62 (Seahawks) It appeared that TT was interested in him.

** Knile Davis Rd. 3 Pick #96 ( Chiefs)

** Johnathan Franklin Rd. 4 Pick #125 (Packers)

I was surprized that TT picked him. I thought that TT would look for a decent RB after round three. After he took care of 3-4 'Rush' DE; SS and 3-4 OLB or OL (LT or C). I thought that TT might go WR in the first three rounds if he saw a value pick drop to him but not RB. That he might cover other needs as a priority.

Evidently TT and MM are moving in a different direction in regards to our offense and at the same time trying to protect Aaron Rodgers. That's the real priority and certainly a solid focus. The time it takes to get that done is left to be seen.

Eddie Lacy looked solid on video. It's just that injury history and all the work in the Alabama offense behind a solid OL. How well he translates to our team is again, left to be seen.

I offer this just for information sake:

Another team that needed RB and was always in the same conversation and RB in Free Agency, wrote Eddie Lacy off:

Eddie Lacy's toe injury reportedly turned off Steelers

By Chris Wesseling ... Around the League Writer

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000165051/article/eddie-lacys-toe-injury-reportedly-turned-off-steelers

Edit: I just went back into the thread and see that pbmax posted something similiar to the above fr. another source.

GO PACK GO !