{"id":26873,"date":"2017-08-11T19:05:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T23:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=26873"},"modified":"2017-08-11T19:05:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T23:05:05","slug":"eddie-lacy-seahawks-backfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2017\/08\/11\/eddie-lacy-seahawks-backfield\/","title":{"rendered":"How Eddie Lacy Can Revitalize the Seattle Seahawks Backfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a relatively quiet March by the NFL\u2019s standards when the Seattle Seahawks signed former Green Bay Packer <\/a>Eddie Lacy<\/a><\/strong> through free agency, and right away the majority of people around the league really liked the move. The Seahawks<\/a> were having injury driven depth issues in the backfield and the signing of a hulking Lacy (he weighed in at 267 pounds around the time the Seahawks picked him up) looked like it could both reinforce and revitalize this Seahawks backfield.<\/p>\n

How Eddie Lacy Can Revitalize the Seattle Seahawks Backfield<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Lacy had been plagued by ankle injuries in Green Bay, one limiting him to only 12 starts in the 2015 season with the subsequent one ending his season after only five games. By the end of his stint in Green Bay, he was far from the player that the Packers had drafted in 2013. In his first season Lacy had 11 touchdowns, averaged 78.5 yards per game all while maintaining a 4.1 yards per carry average, impressive given his 284 rushing attempts.<\/p>\n

Even in his rookie season, Lacy was a big, physical runner and right from the get-go saw comparisons to former Seahawk Marshawn Lynch<\/a><\/strong>. Lacy and Lynch have mirroring numbers at points in their careers as well. In his first full year with the Seahawks, Lynch averaged 4.2 yards per carry off of 285 attempts. That\u2019s a difference of a singular carry and a .1 yards per carry average between Lacy\u2019s rookie season and Lynch\u2019s first full season with the Seahawks in 2011.<\/p>\n

Physicality in the Backfield<\/h3>\n

Since Lynch\u2019s departure, the Seahawks have been searching for a running back that can bring Lynch\u2019s levels of physicality to the backfield. In 2016, Thomas Rawls<\/a><\/strong>, Alex Collins<\/a><\/strong> and C.J. Prosise<\/a><\/strong> all saw a notable number of carries, yet although Collins came closest (4.0 yards per carry), none of the runners were able to bring the kind of physicality that Lynch was known for.<\/p>\n

Prosise and Rawls aren\u2019t the prototypical physical running back that Lynch was, so their play style is going to be notably different. With that said, Seattle\u2019s usually patchwork offensive line generally means that runners need to be adept at running through contact–it was a big part of how Lynch succeeded.<\/p>\n

Enter Eddie Lacy, the 5\u201911″ sub-250-pound monster of a runner that\u2019s coming off of a quarter season played in Green Bay. He\u2019s big but not huge, fresh but not rusty and looks ready to shake up this Seahawks backfield that seemed to stagnate at so many points last season.<\/p>\n

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Will the Seattle Seahawks have Eddie Lacy at his best in 2017? pic.twitter.com\/jR1e6t7xP4<\/a><\/p>\n

— PFF (@PFF) August 7, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n