The L-Files

The Mini-Camp Picture That Started It All

Coach Mike McCarthy's first proclamation after he and Larry Fitzgerald single-handily ended the Packers season was Eddie Lacy was fat and that won't be tolerated next season. McCarthy added he needs to lose 30 pounds before the OTA's.

Last Year (Right) and This Year-Is It Fat or Muscle or Did His Uniform Shrink in the Dryer

However, in my opinion I think McCarthy is just looking for a scapegoat for screwing up the offense because being fat doesn't seem fit the evidence as far as Lacy is concerned and Lacy being fat didn't have anything to do with the wide receiving corps being unable to get open all season and Lacy being fat had nothing to do with not having a decent backup offensive tackle.

But let's assume (and I do think the old axiom will ring true in this case - making an ass out of u and me) that McCarthy is right and Lacy's problems stemmed from him being fat.

If that is the case then I think Weightwatchers should sign Lacy up because he seemed to be able gain and lose weight on a weekly basis. This fat nonsense started in mini-camp when an unflattering picture of him appeared that seemed to say he was at 300 lbs. However, it turned out that it was just an optical illusion and he showed he was just fine by averaging 7.2 and 5.0 yards a carry in the first two preseason games.

I'm Not Fat I've Got Heavy Hair

It seems he binged during the week before the third preseason game because he was held to 2 yards on 4 carries and the beginning of a feast or famine season was born.

It Didn't Seem Eddie Lacy Was Fat in the Season Opener

After sitting out the final preseason with the rest of the starters Lacy gains 85 yards against the Bears. He then balloons up during the week and is benched after gaining 9 yards on 3 carries in Game 2. After a crash diet he averages 4.6 yards in Week 3 and follows with 90 yards on 18 carries in Week 4.

Maybe This Wasn't A Good Idea

He then hit the buffet again and averages 2.1 yards in Week 5 and is benched in Week 6 after gaining 3 yards on 4 carries. He continues to eat his way out of job during the bye week and comes back with two bad games averaging 3.5 and 2.0 yards before sitting out Week 10 after he and his partner in crime Alonzo Harris missed curfew. Harris was cut and Lacy was benched.

Another Packer With a Weight Problem - 'Now That's a Burger'
(Antonio Freeman pointing to Gilbert Brown and His Burger King Burger)

Another crash diet works and Lacy is back to old self with consecutive 100 yard games before eating himself into a stupor in Week 13 and being benched after gaining 4 yards on 5 carries.

Another crash diet and he's back for another 100 yard game in Week 14. He's fat again in Week 15 averaging 2.1 yards and skinny again in Week 16 averaging 5.0 yards. Finally he's fat again against the Vikings averaging 2.6.

Another purge and he's back to normal in the playoffs averaging 5.3 yards against the Redskins, but is fat again against the Cardinals averaging 2.5 yards if you take out his 61 yard run.

So how can weight be the issue when his production seemed to go up and down every other week. It seems to me that Lacy had a motivation problem and not a weight issue, which reflected bad on former running backs coach Sam Gash and current golden boy offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett.

The games he was averaging over four yards he was hitting the hole quick and not dancing around. In the other games he was slow to the line and hesitant at the line. I don't think that had anything to do with weight, but I could be wrong.

Help Is On The Way

Another thing about Eddie Lacy is he is at his best when he gets a head of steam and hits the hole quickly up between the tackles. He is an excellent north-south runner, but is a lot like Brandon Jacobs was when he goes east-west he is easily tackled and knocked down.

Former play caller Tom Clements and McCarthy seem to have a death wish for the running game and Lacy in particular. After he was successful on a run up the middle they'd  call an off-tackle run and lose yardage setting up a longer third down situation than needed to be. Unless Lacy makes a cut quickly to be heading up-field he is doomed to be gang-tackled on an off-tackle run.

James Starks is more adept at off-tackle, but even with him the production of that play is not good. I have said many times to scrap that play and if they really want to run outside bring back the Lombardi sweep. Have big men on the move blocking instead of trying to cut block at the point all the time.

Have I Got A Weight Loss Product For You

Finally, his first two years Lacy got better as the game and the season progressed. The more carries he got the better he ran. However, this season McCarthy was quick to bench him and send in the clowns (sorry Starks, I didn't really mean you, but that is how the saying goes).

I really think Lacy's problems this year were two-fold. One, the play of the line and the play calling. Two, being benched early in games.

Let me run another theory by you guys. It seems to me Lacy is not so much fat, but muscle-bound. His arms and legs seem a lot larger, so maybe that is his problem instead of weight.

Oprah To The Rescue

A good example is Muhammad Abdulqaadir - a smallish (5-8, 200) running back at Southern Illinois University, who had a second gear once he cleared the line. He rushed for 1,331 yards adn 20 TDs his junior year while averaging 6.8 yards a carry in just eight games because of a broken thumb.. He finished with six games over 100.

Over the off-season the SIU coaching staff got it in their minds he was injury prone and needed to add muscle. After six months in the weight room he lost his second gear and finished with 1,041 yards in 11 games with a 5.7 average and just 11 TDs. He had just four games over 100 his senior year.

The First Step Is Stop Eating Eddie Burgers During Interviews

Beyond all of that it seems McCarthy has gotten into Lacy's head and has him thinking he was fat because he has announced that instead of endorsing Weightwatchers he is going to take up P90X and join the lean, mean fighting machines of ESPN on the commercial gravy train, so he can make the incentives back he missed by not joining John Brockington as the only Packers to gain over a 1,000 yards their first three seasons. Alright I made that last part up, but I don't remember seeing any commercials nationally featuring Eddie Lacy.

The Goal Is To Get Back Looking Like He Did At His Pro Day Prior To The Draft

I hope McCarthy and his half-baked psychiatry don't screw up one of the best running backs the Packers have had since the heyday of Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens.