We’re just going to call it The Toe from now on. The Denver Broncos passed on running back Eddie Lacy — who the Green Bay Packers selected with the No. 61 pick — in the draft @Denverpost on Twitter | Denverpost on Facebook" href="http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_23191582/broncos-john-elway-likes-montee-ball-has-high#ixzz2SdwUxzew" target="_blank">because of his toe injury.
This follows a report that the Pittsburgh Steelers, who selected Le’Veon Bell instead, wouldn’t touch Lacy because of the injury. The Broncos decided on Montee Ball instead.
“We liked both these backs, we had them very similar on the board,” said Matt Russell, the Broncos director of player personnel. “The issue with Eddie Lacy was we were worried about a toe injury that he had which is probably what caused him to slip.”
As we’ve reported before, Lacy had toe fusion surgery, which is something people with arthritis get. However, he played the entire 2012 season on The Toe and didn’t miss a game.
Is there reason for concern here?
Lacy says he’ll be ready and healthy from day one, but yeah, there is reason for concern. Even if the injury is fine now, The Toe is more likely to break down in the future than some guy with a regular, non-fused toe.
Two teams in need of a running back were overly concerned about that during the draft, so that tells you something.
The Packers can always ride DuJuan Harris to the promised land, though.