What It Means:

One of the biggest offseason storylines was Lacy's weight, which ballooned into the 260 range last season. Lacy struggled to be effective at that weight, clearly looking winded and ungainly on the field, and he worked hard to get back into shape over the offseason. That work was evident in the first preseason game when Lacy opened with four straight carries for 24 yards. Healthy and in shape, the 26-year-old looks poised for a bounce-back season as he enters his fourth year in the league.

Among the 44 running backs with at least 100 carries last season, Lacy ranked 29th in Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per attempt. Despite seeing the inefficiency he is capable of, our algorithms project Lacy as the ninth-best running back for fantasy purposes in 2016. We give him a likely line of 213 rushes for 928 yards and 6.86 touchdowns, with 54 catches for 490 yards receiving and 2.37 touchdowns.