A young and talented Rams backfield, Zac Stacy is surrounded by a group of hungry backs eager to cut into his playing time.
At the NFL owners meetings in March, coach Jeff Fisher told reporters that he’d like Stacy to be the team’s “70 percent” back. In other words, get 70 percent of the touches at running back.
But that was before the Rams selected Heisman Trophy contender Tre Mason of Auburn in Round 3 of the May draft. Throw in returnees Benny Cunningham, and even Isaiah Pead and Chase Reynolds, and there’s plenty of competition on the practice field.
And if those five weren’t enough to consider, the Rams also have an intriguing undrafted rookie in Trey Watts, who sat out the preseason opener against New Orleans with a hamstring injury. So yes, it’s a crowded house at the position.
If Stacy got 70-percent of the carries last year, he would have had just shy of 300, putting him among the tops in the league. But perhaps the point of this story is that Stacy may not need to carry 70-percent of the time like Fisher said he could back in March. That, of course, is bad news for Stacy owners. But the good news is Stacy is still expected to be the RB1 in this offense so he should still get a bulk of the work. We think Mason has a chance to steal the most carries and could end up being a handcuff. The battle behind Stacy is a situation to watch if you're going to be a Stacy owner.