We continue on with our look at potential early round draft prospects for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We are currently looking at the top rated running backs in the draft and will now discuss Eddie Lacy out of Alabama.
Below is my quick profile on Lacy along with his college stats and a few videos on him. In the comments below please add the strengths and weaknesses that you feel that he has and why you think that he is or isn\’t a prospect for the Steelers.
Lacy is a power back that is amazingly light on his feet for a player with his size and build (5102/220). At Alabama he ran mostly out of a one back, one or two tight end set and was effective in both the inside and outside zone schemes.
Lacy likes to use a spin move after initial contact at times, which usually happens three or four yards past the line of scrimmage. He has a nice jump cut, but will tend to leave his feet too long at times when making it. His footwork needs improvement as he lacks coordination at times and he possesses tight hips at other times.
Lacy is not a burner, but he does have deceptive speed as he has run away from defensive players once in the secondary even when they have good angles on him. He loves running north and south, is very aggressive and runs well behind his pads. When he doesn\’t stay square is when he is least effective and that is a trait shared by several running backs. He is effective at breaking arm and shoulder tackles and has the ability to get skinny in running lanes. He also has a nose for the end zone. There are times, however, that Lacy makes poor decisions and I would grade his vision as slightly above average.
As far as blocking goes, Lacy will need a ton of work in that department as he likes to lead with his shoulder and lunge at times. Pass blocking certainly is not something that he seemed interested in doing, and even his chips looked to lack effort at times. He also needs to develop more as a receiver and route runner as he was primarily used as safety valve for short dump-offs.
There don\’t appear to be any character red flags associated with Lacy, but his work ethic apparently has been questioned in the past by a few scouts. He must also keep his weight in check as he can\’t afford to add any more.
It should be noted that Lacy ran behind a very solid offensive line that provided nice running lanes for him while at Alabama. That being said, he has all of the makings of a two down starting running back in the NFL initially.
