While Lacy did have "injuries" they weren't injuries that kept him off the field. They were nagging injuries and he played through them all, certainly not hindering his performance. As for being out of shape at his workout, he was only a few weeks off the hamstring injury.
I applaud the Packers for this pick, especially after trading down and grabbing another pick in the process. I don't get the love for Montee Ball (other than he was a Badger). While these injuries that never took Lacy off the field are pointed out, I'll point out that the wear and tear on Ball is above and beyond Lacy. Ball's 924 career carries to Lacy's 355 career carries. Ball's 5,140 yards to Lacy's 2,402 yards.
Montee has had a concussion or two, right?
I always see talk about the shelf life of runningbacks and from college stats alone, I'd say Ball's shelf life is going to be shorter. With the Packers passing offense and teams using a two-back system, Lacy will do just fine with DuJuan Harris taking some snaps.
I guess my next question is at #61, what other options were there and worth that value? There are still a few quality offensive linemen, defensive linemen and OLB (and even WR). Maybe there was a safety, but was that safety going to be above and beyond what the Packers have?
Lacy is a gigantic steal at this spot and while he is used to running through big holes from Alabama's offensive line, so was Trent Richardson (a more recent Alabama RB). Cleveland's o-line has two good lineman (they are nothing special) like the Packers and Richardson did pretty well there.
We finally have a
starting runningback.