2013 NFL Draft Profile – Zac Stacy ( HB – Vanderbilt )

Chief Concerns: Desmond Bailey (@CCWriterDez)

Prospect Name: Zac Stacy
School: Vanderbilt
Pos: HB
Year: Senior
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 218
Projected Round: Early 4th – Mid 6th

Overview

• 2nd-Team All-SEC (2011, 2012)
• Vanderbilt’s all-time leading rusher
• 8th HB in SEC history to rush for +1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons (2011, 2012)
• Holds school record for longest rush from scrimmage (90 yards)
• Career average of 5.4 yards per carry

Strengths

• Outstanding feet…performs lateral jump cuts with ease
• Is violent…will punish defenders at the end of runs
• Great vision…consistently fines cutback lanes…slashes
• Exhibits breakaway speed…can make multiple defenders miss in open field
• Excellent blocker…consistently reads and picks up blitzes
• Superb upper/lower body strength for his size…breaks a lot of tackles…always falls forward
• Shifty…Escapes the backfield when O-line is blown up…finds holes and explodes through

Weaknesses

• Lacks long, homerun speed…breaks away but will get caught from behind
• Not used much as a receiver out of the backfield
• Suffered a knee sprain and concussion in 2010…missed final 3 games of the season
• Lack of height forces him to overly rely on cut blocking pass rushers

Final Thoughts

Stacy is an elite running back who was highly productive in an elite conference without an elite surrounding cast. He is absurdly underrated. I personally like him better than North Carolina’s Giovanni Bernard and Alabama’s Eddie Lacy. If  Zac Stacy would’ve had Alabama’s offensive line for the last two season’s instead of Vanderbilt’s, the world would have come to an end. He’s that good and you’ve likely never heard of him until now.

Being a Chiefs fan I see an eery likeness  between Stacy and Priest Holmes. They have basically the same build, body movements, field vision and deceptive power. Also, like Holmes, Stacy lacks that Jamaal Charles-esque homerun speed and will occasionally get hawked from behind. The bottomline? If Stacy were to suit up for KC and wear #31, Arrowhead Stadium would do a collective double-take and gasp in chorus once he took a handoff.

I have Stacy projected as early as the 4th round but he may still be on the board into the 6th.  If drafted, he would be the first Vanderbilt HB to do so in 34 years. I mentioned him in a previous article as one of several backs I felt Kansas City should consider to enhance depth behind Charles. So you can pretty much count me as one who’d be absolutely ecstatic if Stacy became a Chief.