Signing RB John Crockett to Active Roster Is One of Packers' Best Moves in 2015

On Thursday, just prior to their matchup with the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers announced they had waived rookie running back Alonzo Harris and promoted undrafted rookie John Crockett to the active roster. 

After missing much of the offseason with an ankle injury, Crockett was ultimately signed to the practice squad as the Packers chose to keep Harris on the 53-man roster, but Crockett's potential has always been obvious. 

Harris, on the other hand, was reportedly cut because he and Eddie Lacy missed curfew on Wednesday night prior to the matchup with Detroit, as ESPN's Rob Demovksy reported. 

There's been no shortage of praise from this corner of the Internet for Crockett, and the North Dakota State product couldn't be joining the active roster at a better time for Green Bay. 

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Eddie Lacy had already lost his starting job to backup James Starks in the Week 12 matchup with the Chicago Bears prior to missing curfew in Week 13. Now, the minuses on Lacy's rap sheet include a lingering ankle injury, lack of production and breaking team rules, which isn't making for a good situation for the halfback.

Lacy is tied for 31st in the league among qualifying running backs in yards per attempt, with 4.1, per Pro Football Focus. Starks has not fared much better, averaging 3.8 yards per carry on 117 attempts. 

Both backs have also been a liability on the field at times. Lacy is tied for the third-most fumbles among running backs in the league this year, with three on the season, and Starks is not far behind him with two. 

And though Starks has been a big factor in the receiving game with 337 yards on 35 receptions and two receiving touchdowns this year, like his fellow pass-catchers Starks has also struggled with drops. According to Pro Football Focus, Starks' drop rate of 10.26 percent is the fifth-highest among pass-catching running backs this season. 

So where does Crockett fit into all of this? Is the former undrafted free agent and practice-squad player going to answer all of the Packers' questions in the run game this season? 

Likely not. 

But there was no denying Crockett gave the offense a big spark in its win over the Lions on Thursday night. 

Crockett carried the ball five times for 22 yards, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. He had a breakaway run of 12 yards. 

Crockett didn't get his first carry until the third quarter, or he would have ended up with a bigger stat line for his first NFL outing. He first took the field in what would become Green Bay's first scoring drive of the game after the coaching staff decided to move away from an ineffective Lacy (0.8 yards per carry) and Starks (1.7 yards per carry). 

Crockett's three runs of 16 yards helped the Packers march into Detroit territory and kept the play-calling from becoming too one-dimensional. The Packers got their first seven points of the game when Randall Cobb fell on a fumble in the end zone. 

As time expired in the third quarter, with the Packers operating out of both the no huddle and the shotgun, Crockett had another big gain of 10 yards. 

Sure, the rookie didn't score or rush for more than 100 yards, but for a player who hadn't even been promoted to the roster until earlier that day, let alone practiced with the first-team offense, it was a valiant debut. 

In fact, as Weston Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette Media reported, Crockett barely even had time to prepare mentally before the game. 

For his part, head coach Mike McCarthy, no doubt frustrated with the immaturity Lacy and Harris displayed earlier that week, was thrilled with Crockett's efforts. 

"We develop young guys," said McCarthy after the game, per Bob McGinn and Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "If you had been on our sideline you could see the juice that he brought. The way his teammates responded to having him go in the game...that is worth a million words." 

Per the Journal Sentinel, Crockett had been working in special teams and impressing his coaches, but McCarthy decided, given the poor state of the run game at halftime against the Lions, to throw Crockett into the mix in the second half. 

"He's a guy that's been working super hard," McCarthy said. "We felt like he deserved an opportunity."

What does Crockett bring to the table in the final quarter of the season?

NFL.com projected Crockett to be drafted in Round 6 or 7. He was a top performer among running back prospects at the NFL combine in the vertical jump (40 inches) and the broad jump (125 inches) and ran a 4.62-second 40-yard dash.

At North Dakota State, Crockett had three consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus rushing yards, and in his senior year he set school records for all-purpose yards (2,419), rushing yards (1,994) and rushing attempts (368).

North Dakota State also ran a pro-style rushing attack, which helps mitigate the fact Neal has more experience in a pro system than does Crockett heading into training camp. 

Crockett would likely be a change from the power-run style both Lacy and Starks bring to the table.

Do the Packers have a running back controversy on their hands? Not really. Lacy was just starting to get hot prior to being benched in Week 13, and with their playoff hopes on the line, the Packers need to do whatever makes them the most competitive team when it comes to personnel. 

However, Crockett could prove to be a welcome change-of-pace back on certain drives. He's able to put a closing burst on his runs and can break away from defenders downfield.  

He could have been a boon to Green Bay's struggling offense at any point this season, but especially given the struggles in the Packers backfield, activating Crockett was a shrewd move by the Packers.