X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

Fantasy Spin - Eddie Lacy to the Seahawks

By Kyle Engman [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Seattle Seahawks may not have Marshawn Lynch any more, but they will have someone in their backfield who runs almost as hard in 2017.

Eddie Lacy signed a one-year contract with Seattle last week. My Green Bay Packers-loving cheesehead wife is mourning the loss of Lacy, and she is probably not alone. Fantasy owners in dynasty or keeper leagues are probably mourning that Lacy has left the red-zone riches that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense supplied him over the last four years.

Now that Green Bay and Lacy have parted ways and Lacy has landed where coffee, rain and grunge rock are just as revered as the Seahawks, what does this mean for his fantasy value and the fantasy values of his new and old teammates?  Here is a look:

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best NFL Series, MLB Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!

 

 

Eddie Lacy’s Impact in Seattle

Lacy started his NFL career with back-to-back 1,100-yard years and two dozen total touchdowns. He even added 784 receiving yards over those two seasons, showing he was not just a one-dimensional, between-the-tackles, big-bodied back who would never be on the field during third downs. He was the top tailback in one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NFL and was a fantasy force.

Unfortunately, weight and injury issues have plagued Lacy’s last two seasons. He weight went up while his rushing numbers dropped down in 2015 as Lacy finished with a disappointing 758 yards. Then after an offseason of attempting to slim down thanks to the popular P90X fitness system, Lacy’s 2016 campaign was cut short thanks to season-ending ankle surgery.

The bad news for Lacy is that he is slated to be part of a three-headed rushing attack monster with holdovers Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise. Lacy will be lucky to touch the ball 10 times per game when the entire trio is healthy and rotating in and out of the backfield.

The good news for Lacy is that Rawls and Prosise might be bigger question marks than he is due to their own injury problems. Neither was able to stay healthy for more than a few quarters at a time last season, which is one of the reasons Seattle felt it necessary to bring Lacy in. The other likely reason was with Rawls and Prosise being smaller backs that Lacy’s Jerome Bettis-like build would complement them perfectly when Seattle wanted to change things up offensively during the course of a contest.

Lacy ran well last season during the five games he was able to suit up. While he failed to score a touchdown, he did average 5.1 yards per carry and 72 rushing yards per game. When he is injury-free and free of extra pounds around his midsection, Lacy is an above-average running back who can rack up 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns if everything breaks right for him.

Seattle does not have the explosive offense Green Bay had during Lacy’s four years there. Russell Wilson is good, but he is no Aaron Rodgers. Doug Baldwin is a tenacious player and has become one of the better receivers in the league, but he is no Jordy Nelson. So the scoring opportunities might not be as readily available for Lacy in Seattle as decaf coffee is.

Yet, Lacy will probably get the first crack at red-zone touches ahead of Rawls and Prosise because of his size and the nose for the end zone he showed during the early part of his career. He is still a risky pick since there is no guarantee he will stay healthy, avoid "China food," or beat out Rawls for the starting spot. But Lacy is a nice middle-to-late round sleeper pick to make note of. I would pencil him in for 900 rushing yards and seven scores, but those numbers could swing big in either direction since so much could go right or wrong for him in 2017.

 

How Will This Affect Other Players?

Thomas Rawls runs like he is Lacy’s size and with the reckless abandon of a high-flying WWE wrestler. But his body breaks down because of it. Maybe splitting time and touches with Lacy is actually the best thing for him and his fantasy worth.

Seattle had the 25th-ranked ground game in the NFL last season, and while the Seahawks’ porous offensive line is mostly to blame, Rawls’ 3.2 yards per carry cannot be totally attributed to bad blocking. Rawls will be a good handcuff to fantasy owners that draft Lacy since Rawls could end up being the top tailback, and if he stays healthy and Seattle’s line improves, Rawls will provide decent fantasy value --- more so if Lacy loses carries due to his weight or another injury.

Ty Montgomery is the de facto top tailback in Green Bay now that Lacy and James Starks are not part of the Packers’ plans for 2017. Montgomery showed fantastic flexibility shifting from wide receiver to running back during the 2016 campaign when injuries ravaged Green Bay’s backfield. Now he is slated to stay at RB full-time in 2017, which should be a boon to his burgeoning fantasy value. It's unclear whether he will retain the rare RB/WR eligibility he gained last year, but he should be a valuable fantasy asset regardless.

Green Bay has yet to acquire a quality running back via free agency or trade, so while the offseason is still young and the draft has not happened yet, it appears Montgomery is the Packers’ best back until further notice. Montgomery can supply big plays and obviously PPR power thanks to his receiving prowess. Green Bay will need to add an inside runner since Montgomery is built to run on the outside (and gets nicked a lot). Montgomery will be a bigger fantasy force as a RB than he ever was as a WR, though.

 Keep tabs on Rotoballer's NFL page for the latest reaction and analysis to free agent moves in order to stay ahead of the game.




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF