Zac "the juggernaut" Stacy

[NJRamsFan]

http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/11/04/best-mode-junior-zac-stacy-gives-st-louis-rams-stability/

Best Mode Junior: Zac Stacy Gives St. Louis Rams Stability
November 4, 2013 12:06 pm EST by roywhitehead

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams‘ 2013 season opened with a broken running game. Through the first 3 games of the season the running backs were averaging 2.6 yards per carry and now injured Sam Bradford was forced to carry the load. Daryl Richardson opened as the starter and failed to gain any traction on the ground. The doubters of Richardson’s ability to start were quickly proven to be correct in their second guessing of the Rams decision to start him.

Zac Stacy was given a start in the 3rd week of the season and hasn’t looked back while pin balling his way through defenses. He has entrenched himself as the workhorse of the offense with back to back games where he had 20+ carries and 100 yards. Last week’s 134 yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks was the first 100 yard game for a Rams running back since Stephen Jackson. St. Louis has averaged 133 yards rushing per game during the last 5 weeks.

Related: Philadelphia Eagles: Will The Real Nick Foles Please Stand Up?

Stacy’s average of 4.6 yards per carry is largely due to his hard nosed running. He simply refuses to go down when it’s a one on one tackle. If Marshawn Lynch can still be called Beast Mode, then Zac Stacy must be Beast Mode Junior. Stacy has turned in at least one run of 18 yards or more for the last 4 weeks while gaining more carries each game.

His most recent exploit was against the Tennessee Titans when he carried the ball a career high 27 times, gained 127 yards, and scored the first 2 rushing touchdowns of his career. Not only were they the first rushing touchdowns of his career they were the first rushing touchdowns for the Rams this season. He also set a career high in receptions (6) and receiving yards (51). He is the motor behind the St. Louis Rams offense and he deserves to get the ball every chance he can get as he is the safest option for this offense.

Back up running back Benny Cunningham lost a fumble before he was hit on what could have been a touchdown run had he held onto the ball. Maybe he got a little excited at his chance to score and forgot he needed the ball? Kellen Clemens has turned the ball over 4 times in the last two games so Stacy is the only viable option that hasn’t turned the ball over for St. Louis this season.

St. Louis might have found a gem in their 5th round pick by accident. Teams are going to start paying more attention to Stacy, but he’ll have to keep proving himself before he can earn any cool nicknames. For now, St. Louis fans should just enjoy what they have seen in their rookie running back.

Roy Whitehead is a St. Louis Rams writer for rantsports.com, follow him on Twitter @roypatrick1, or add him to your network on Google


Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/...-st-louis-rams-stability/?q8S0Gi7otUJS3dOw.99

 

[Mister Sin]

Ummmm I'm gonna say nope. Taken

 

[-X-]

Beast Mode Junior?

That's an embarrassing suggestion, and puts him on a lesser level (even if he is right now) than Lynch. I get the intent of the message, but how about not stealing other people's or team's earned accolades? This is almost as bad as the teams who want to be called GSOTII.

 

[V3]

The new Zack Attack. If I did Photoshop I'd put ZS's face over his. The new Save by the Bell Cow.

 

[…..]

I'm curious why it took 3 weeks to start him.

The difference with him in the lineup is so vast...are you telling me this was not recognized in Preseason, OTA's and practice?

 

[-X-]

The new Zack Attack. If I did Photoshop I'd put ZS's face over his. The new Save by the Bell Cow.

Pun overload.

 

[-X-]

I'm curious why it took 3 weeks to start him.

The difference with him in the lineup is so vast...are you telling me this was not recognized in Preseason, OTA's and practice?

He was kind of outplayed by Benny Cunningham in preseason. But if I were to guess, I'd say Zac got exponentially better in practice as time wore on, and that's why they decided to give him a look in the regular season. Just a guess.

 

[jap]

I'm curious why it took 3 weeks to start him.

The difference with him in the lineup is so vast...are you telling me this was not recognized in Preseason, OTA's and practice?

Recall that Zac was dealing with nagging injuries throughout the pre-season, which affected his practice of the playbook. The other RB's had more time to synchronize the playbook schemes with actual scrimmage work so he required time to get up to speed. Furthermore, Fish, the player's coach that he is, had already designated DRich as the starting RB and had to live up to that initially.

 

[V3]

He was kind of outplayed by Benny Cunningham in preseason. But if I were to guess, I'd say Zac got exponentially better in practice as time wore on, and that's why they decided to give him a look in the regular season. Just a guess.

I didn't think he outplayed him. I thought ZS looked good in preseason. I've never seen what others see in Cunningham.

 

[-X-]

I didn't think he outplayed him. I thought ZS looked good in preseason. I've never seen what others see in Cunningham.

I honestly only have a vague recollection of how the RBs performed in preseason, but I do remember Cunningham looking good.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Cunningham looked eh as most of our running backs did in the preseason. That last game was when Cunningham really played well, and I think everyone got really excited about it.

Stacy is obviously our back for the future, dude just gets it. Richardson is a viable backup for him, I think that role is what fits him best rather than being the guy. I would rather Pead over Cunningham personally though.

 

[Selassie I]

It's important to remember that in the preseason,,, RBs usually have a completely different O-Line blocking for them.

 

[-X-]

It's important to remember that in the preseason,,, RBs usually have a completely different O-Line blocking for them.

Yerp. And completely different defenses to run against.
Which is also why guys like Keith Null and Thaddeus Lewis look all-world in August.

 

[NJRamsFan]

I kinda like the juggernaut...Apparently thats what Jo-Lonn Dunbar nicknamed him in the preseason....probably shortly after realizing just how hard the kid was to bring down :juiced:

 

[V3]

I honestly only have a vague recollection of how the RBs performed in preseason, but I do remember Cunningham looking good.

Cunningham's long skews his average. Pretty sure Cunningham faced lesser opponents. It really doesn't matter. I just remember liking what I saw from ZS.

 

[MerlinJones]

ZeuS

Or ZaiuS if you're a Planet of the Apes fan.