MintBaconDrivel
9 years ago
Eddie Lacy won't average more than 70 yards this season. He's not that important. Packers have James Starks and DuJuan Harris who are both more dangerous to take it the distance than Lacy.


GREEN BAY — Scott Tolzien knows a thing or two about the importance of an intimidating running game to a quarterback. Having played at the University of Wisconsin, where the ground game is king, Tolzien qualifies as an expert in how a running back influences an offense.

After all, the Badgers essentially had three 1,000-yard rushers during Tolzien's senior season of 2010 — James White (1,086), John Clay (1,028) and Montee Ball (996) — when UW reached the first of three straight Rose Bowls.

And then he played in three games with Eddie Lacy last season. That's when the Green Bay Packers backup quarterback saw even more clearly what a difference-maker looks like

"I'm really looking forward, as are all of us, to seeing what he does in Year 2 because usually there's that first year of kind of growing pains, and I think he's jumped out of those shoes," Tolzien said of Lacy, who finished eighth in the NFL in rushing (1,178 yards) and set the Packers' rookie record for rushing yards despite essentially playing just 14 regular-season games. "I think we're all excited about what's ahead for Eddie.

"What I was impressed with last year was on game day, on Sundays, there's no one you want back there more than Eddie. He truly sets the tone for everybody with his physicality. Hopefully you see that more this year."

If there is a concern about Lacy, it's that he's almost too physical. Those unaccustomed to seeing the Packers utilize an athletic but bruising back were taken aback by Lacy's punishing running style, and he did pay the price physically, having suffered a concussion on his opening carry against Washington in the second game of last season — forcing him to miss the next week's game at Cincinnati — and playing the final month of the year on a badly sprained ankle.

Neverthless, Packers coach Mike McCarthy insists he's not worried about Lacy's durability, even though questions about a toe surgery and hamstring issue before the draft dropped him to the second round.

"I would like to think that Eddie puts the beating on. I think he's beating people up the way he runs," McCarthy said. "But I think you have to conscientious of everything that goes on with your football team. The mileage any player is putting on their body and really what's going on not only during the snaps he's playing but the wear and tear. So, yeah, we're conscious of all that.

"We're very much in-tune with how much Eddie's played and the potential wear and tear."

That's why the team re-signed James Starks and hopes DuJuan Harris, the lead back down the stretch in 2012 before missing all of last season with a knee injury, can contribute as well. That said, McCarthy's plan is for Lacy to earn the right to be on the field on all three downs, and much like franchise all-time leading rusher Ahman Green in his prime, it's hard to take Lacy off the field knowing his impact.

Because of quarterback Aaron Rodgers' fractured collarbone and Lacy's concussion, the quarterback and running back only lined up in the Packers' backfield together for only seven full games last season: The season-opening loss at San Francisco; a four-game stretch against Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and Minnesota in October; the regular-season finale at Chicago; and the season-ending playoff loss to the 49ers.

The Packers won all four of those October games, with Lacy carrying 97 times for 395 yards (4.1-yard average) and two touchdowns. In those four games, Rodgers completed 86 of 127 passes for 1,134 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception for a 110.8 passer rating.

The Packers lost wide receivers James Jones (knee) and Randall Cobb in the game against the Ravens and lost tight end Jermichael Finley in the game against the Browns. Against the Vikings, playing without all three of them, Rodgers was 24 of 29 for 285 yards with two touchdowns, Lacy carried the ball 29 times for 94 yards and a touchdown, and the only possession on which the Packers didn't score was on their kneel-downs at the end of the game. The next week, when Rodgers broke his collarbone on the opening series, Lacy ran for a season-high 150 yards on 22 carries.

It's that kind of production the coaches are hoping for with both Rodgers and Lacy healthy.

"It'll be great to have Aaron and Eddie back and ready to go," offensive coordinator Tom Clements said. "It just makes it so the defense has to defend against everything — the run, the pass, all types of passes, the various runs. It makes, as long as you can execute, it makes playing offense fun. So we're looking forward to it."

Jason Wilde  wrote:


Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (11h) : Chase Young to sign $13M contract with Saints
Zero2Cool (11h) : Yosh to Panthers what noooo. Wait he didn't do crap
wpr (18-Mar) : I say that he is technically HER BIL as he married her sister. I checked it out, he's considered my BIL as well. Sad.
Mucky Tundra (18-Mar) : wpr, I assume its your BIL via marriage to your wife? If so, I can figure out where the smarts in the family went ;)
wpr (18-Mar) : Mucky my B-I-L is Bare Stupid. I could write a book.
Mucky Tundra (18-Mar) : As a teenager in Rockford IL I would get heckled by adults in public for wearing GB gear
Mucky Tundra (18-Mar) : if you think the online ones are bad, try *living amongst* them
Mucky Tundra (18-Mar) : Never doubt wprs loyalty. Poor guy is surrounded by Bears fans in Northern IL
wpr (17-Mar) : pass Martha. Thanks for the invite though.
Martha Careful (17-Mar) : blog * as the same ugly Illinois colors were adopted by the Baer
Martha Careful (17-Mar) : WPR, perhaps you should be joining the Bears fans blog has the same ugly Illinois colors were adopted by the Bears
Mucky Tundra (17-Mar) : Ah a fellow U of Illinois hater. I can respect that though I imagine it's for different reasons
Zero2Cool (17-Mar) : BTW. I didn't catch the game. I just hate Illinois.
Mucky Tundra (17-Mar) : They're your Big Ten Chumps and you will like it!
Zero2Cool (17-Mar) : No, not for the record. Referee's handled that BS. Orange team was trash ass
Mucky Tundra (17-Mar) : *Your* Big Ten Chumps for the record
Zero2Cool (17-Mar) : No, not Big Ten Champs. IL is big ten CHUMPS
wpr (17-Mar) : Big Ten Champs
wpr (17-Mar) : !!!
wpr (17-Mar) : INI
wpr (17-Mar) : ILL
Martha Careful (17-Mar) : Wisconsin with an outstanding on in the men’s Big Ten basketball tournament. Let’s hope it continues in the NCAAs
Zero2Cool (17-Mar) : Almost like taking QB in 2020 even if you don't need one is good move.
Mucky Tundra (16-Mar) : 2021 QB Draft class looking like a real clunker
Mucky Tundra (16-Mar) : A conditional 6th rounder? I remember Bears fans arguing they'd get a day 2 pick at worst lol
dfosterf (16-Mar) : So I got the no extension part right and the have to wait on the CW physical wrong
Zero2Cool (16-Mar) : Bears are trading Justin Fields for a 2025 6th-round pick that goes to a 4th-round pick based on playtime, per sources.
Zero2Cool (16-Mar) : Former Packer Jarrett Bush opens Wisconsin’s first blow dry bar in Green Bay
dfosterf (16-Mar) : If the Bears are not doing a deal with Washington, they also cannot trade Fields until Williams physical with them. All hail Caleb Williams!
dfosterf (16-Mar) : The talent is undeniable, but the (advertised) haul is obscene.
dfosterf (16-Mar) : If the Bears are cutting a deal with the Commanders, in either scenario, cannot happen until williams passes a Commanders physical
dfosterf (16-Mar) : My guess is no to the Fields extension, but yes to the trade back with the Commanders.
dhazer (15-Mar) : I think the Bears do a Love extension and they will trade out of the 1st pick and take the haul
Martha Careful (15-Mar) : that might make sense
Zero2Cool (15-Mar) : Justin Fields to Steelers?
Zero2Cool (15-Mar) : Kenny Pickett. Eagles. Done.
Zero2Cool (15-Mar) : They can claim best two WR tandem.
Mucky Tundra (15-Mar) : Aaron Donald retiring
dhazer (15-Mar) : Campbell signing with 49ers
dhazer (15-Mar) : I love how the Bear Fans are now claiming they have the best skill players in the NFC North lol
Zero2Cool (15-Mar) : Vikings made a move to get a 2nd first round pick
Mucky Tundra (15-Mar) : That's a not a bad deal for the Bears
Zero2Cool (15-Mar) : Bears have traded for WR Keenan Allen sending Chargers a fourth rounder.
Martha Careful (15-Mar) : *signs
Martha Careful (14-Mar) : MLB Devon White science with the Eagles
Mucky Tundra (14-Mar) : But that was before FA started
Mucky Tundra (14-Mar) : Dhaze, I thought Kurls would be their #1 target when I read that he was an Amos comp (jack of all trades guy)
dhazer (14-Mar) : I would like to see the Packers target 2 more FA still available Kamren Curl Safety and Chase Young edge
Martha Careful (14-Mar) : wow...didn't see that coming
Zero2Cool (14-Mar) : AJ Dillon re-signing with Packers.
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