Zac Stacy's Updated Fantasy Outlook Heading into Week 7

Fantasy football would be a lot easier if reality in the NFL always matched preseason perception and expectations—especially for Zac Stacy owners.

Stacy was one of the breakout players in the league in 2013 with 973 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He also added 141 receiving yards and a touchdown catch and was a waiver-wire godsend considering he only had nine snaps through Week 4.

It was not hard to see why ESPN.com ranked him as the No. 19 overall player and the No. 11 running back before the season.

It was only natural to expect another leap forward in his second year, especially since he would theoretically have the starting role the entire time.

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That jump hasn’t happened yet, and fantasy owners are likely to the point in Week 7 where putting Stacy on the bench is becoming a real possibility.

Actually, the bench may be a real upgrade for Stacy for some owners, as Brad Evans of Yahoo Sports noted:

Stacy has sunk this far because he is simply not putting up the numbers fantasy owners need from a running back. He only has 240 total rushing yards and a single touchdown, although he does have 115 receiving yards. He has lost two fumbles and is averaging a measly 3.9 yards per carry.

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Stacy’s best game of the year on the ground came in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he still only managed to get 71 rushing yards.

He is also coming off his worst game of the season in Week 6 with eight carries for 17 yards against the San Francisco 49ers, so confidence from fantasy owners is likely at an all-time low.

To make matters worse, his St. Louis Rams go up against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7, which is absolutely a reason for concern.

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Seattle has given up 82.2 rushing yards per game this year, which ranks sixth in the league, and the last time it played Stacy was in Week 17 last season. Stacy managed a whopping 15 rushing yards on 15 carries.

It doesn’t exactly take a math expert to figure out how many yards a carry Stacy averaged that day.

The Seahawks did just allow DeMarco Murray to rush for 115 yards and a touchdown in their last game. A Stacy optimist could look at that as evidence that the Seahawks' front seven is beatable, but it is more of a testament to Murray’s greatness this season than anything else.

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Remember, Seattle gave up 29 rushing yards to Alfred Morris, 38 rushing yards to Montee Ball, 31 rushing yards to Danny Woodhead (who led the San Diego Chargers in rushing that game) and 37 rushing yards to James Starks (who led the Green Bay Packers in rushing that day).

Ultimately, it’s not just the statistical struggles that are impacting Stacy’s fantasy value, which is the biggest concern moving forward.

There was a lot of worry from fantasy owners before the season started that Tre Mason was going to steal carries from Stacy this season, but Benny Cunningham is actually second on the team in rushes.

Cunningham got some goal-line work recently and has a touchdown in the last two games. Those are the points that Stacy owners desperately need.

Stacy managed eight carries against San Francisco, while Cunningham had seven and Mason had five for a team-high 40 yards. It was Mason’s first action of the year, and head coach Jeff Fisher discussed the dreaded running-back-by-committee possibility.

“I have no problem with that. Nope, we were rolling all three of them,” he told Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Running back by committee is a fantasy death knell, especially if the starting back is struggling as much as Stacy has this season.

Between the lack of statistical production, the potential emergence of Cunningham and Mason, and the presence of the dominant Seahawks defense, you should not play Stacy in Week 7 if you have other options.

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