I was curious so I looked at that stats, in terms of breaking long runs Lacy isn't on par with the best in the league, that's for sure. Here's a random sample:
Barry Sanders
20+ 4.4%
40+ 1.6%
Adrian Peterson
20+ 4.5%
40+ 1.4%
Jamaal Charles
20+ 3.7%
40+ 1.2%
Demarco Murray
20+ 3.7%
40+ 1.0%
Eddie Lacy
20+ 2.0%
40+ 0.5%
Interesting notes, Peterson breaks a lot of 20-40 yard runs, probably more than any other back in the league (I didn't extensively research this), but even then, Jamaal Charles has a better career average (5.5 vs 5.0 yards), which means Charles is a more consistent back, constantly getting positive yards, while Peterson likely has a lot more negative or 0-2 yard runs.
The 40+ numbers are interesting as well, none of these guys breaks 40 yard runs more than 1.6% of the time. Peterson at 1.4% breaks on average 4 40+ runs a season, or once every 4 games.
For perspective, Aaron Rodgers throws a 20+ yard pass 10.7% of the time (53 times a season), and a 40+ pass 2.2% of the time (12.5 times a season). If you want someone to "take it to the house" you use the passing game, not the running game.
Lacy's stats have the smallest sample size which may not be entirely representative, though he's been a starter essentially since he's been drafted and RB's typically have good numbers when young.
Originally Posted by: earthquake