While reports and rumors of what almost was are usually fairly useless, especially when it concerns the NFL draft, a notorious crapshoot in which seemingly well-researched, well-thought out acts and selections which are, in all reality, actually quite random create chain reactions which alter the futures of nearly every single one of the league's 32 franchises - really, after the first pick, the whole thing is basically one big chain reaction. That being said, it's still interesting to look back and wonder what could have been, especially when one of the aforementioned reports and/or rumors is stripped down to one franchise and just two players.
When the Green Bay Packers and GM Ted Thompson were closing in on their second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the team had reportedly whittled their list of positions down to a running back and their list of players down to Montee Ball of Wisconsin and Eddie Lacy of Alabama, per Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The way McGinn paints it, the Packers were "fortunate" for Ball to wind up going to the Denver Broncos at No. 58, three selections before Thompson was set to select. While a quick look at both players NFL careers thus far will show that the Packers and Thompson certainly were fortunate to land Lacy - in two NFL seasons, Lacy has amassed 2,317 yards and 20 touchdowns, while Ball has managed just 731 yards and five touchdowns - McGinn seems to be suggesting that Ball may have been Thompson's preferred target.
Considering the backs the team had employed prior to Lacy's arrival - Brandon Jackson, Alex Green and Cedric Benson - it would certainly seem to make sense. Unfortunately or fortunately, whatever you want to term it, the Packers wound up with Lacy and, to hear at least one unnamed NFL North personnel exec tell it, his hard-nosed running style was not expected to make a major impact at the NFL level.
"He went into a pile of three guys and came out," the personnel man said in October after watching Green Bay tape, via McGinn. "I just couldn't believe it. They gave him their best shot and he left them all on the ground.
"I'll bet he weighs 240, but he plays like he weighs 300 pounds. He's one of the strongest animals I've ever seen. He's a man.
"I thought he would meet his Waterloo at the pro level. He bowled people over in college, but I thought when he got at this level he would struggle against guys bigger and stronger. It really doesn't seem to matter."
Indeed, that seemed to be the consensus concern for Lacy's NFL future pre-draft; that a lack of dynamism and issues with pass protection would limit him to a two-down role in the NFL. And Lacy certainly strugged with the finer aspects of the game in Year One, despite still managing to post 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing as a rookie.
Fortunately for Packers fans, Lacy has since destroyed that over-arching narrative about his style and has become a full-fledged three-down, Pro Bowl-caliber NFL running back, while Ball has struggled with injuries and effectiveness and managed to appearl in just five games for the Broncos last season.
"It's like a Mack Truck coming downhill," another NFC scout said of Lacy. "You don't want to get in front of him. Very good back. Complete back."
