Sports

Alabama RB Lacy has NFL scouts fit to be Tide

Eddie Lacy’s blockbuster effort in the BCS title game suddenly seems like a long, long time ago.

The Alabama star still figures to be the first running back drafted next week, but Lacy has done far more to harm than help his stock with an offseason that continues to raise red flags among NFL scouts.

Lacy didn’t run at the scouting combine in February because of a hamstring injury, which was disappointing but not necessarily cause for concern — especially in light of the 140 yards of devastation he had inflicted on Notre Dame in the BCS championship the month before.

But Lacy’s borderline-awful workout in Tuscaloosa last week left scouts and team executives wondering what the early entrant had been doing — or, more to the point — not doing with himself in the meantime.

Not only did Lacy run the 40 in a pedestrian 4.57 and 4.60 seconds, both of which were almost identical to his clockings at the Senior Bowl in January, but he also was visibly winded throughout and then caused more than a few quizzical looks by cutting the event short.

As a result, Lacy might not go until late in the first round or perhaps fall into the second. That’s potentially embarrassing, especially since Lacy is one of 23 players slated to attend the draft.

“The lack of conditioning exhibited [at the workout] will lead some coaches and scouts to question his work ethic,” NFL.com draft analyst Bucky Brooks said last week.

Lacy has never been a burner, of course, and the hamstring problems might have held back his conditioning. But teams will now have to rely mostly on game tape to evaluate him, which is not at all the preferred method.

* Lacy’s stock might be falling, but Brigham Young outside linebacker/defensive end Ziggy Ansah has been on a rocket ship lately.

Considered a fringe first-round pick when the draft season started, Ansah turned heads with strong showings at the Senior Bowl and combine. Word is he now could go as high as the Raiders at No. 3 and probably no later than the pass-rush needy Lions at No. 5.

But there’s bust potential here, and it’s easy to see why. Ansah might be 6-feet-5 with 35 ¹/‚ˆ -inch arms, but he’s also 24, hasn’t played football very long and mustered just 4 1/2 sacks in 31 college games.

Teams might think they’re getting the next Jason Pierre-Paul, but they could wind up with the next Vernon Gholston instead.

Cal wide receiver Keenan Allen’s months-long free-fall picked up speed recently when his combine drug test was reportedly red-flagged for having a suspiciously high level of water. Allen will have to take another test before the draft.

Allen — Cal’s all-time receptions leader despite playing fewer than three seasons — had been considered a mid-first rounder before injuring his PCL last November. Some teams now have him pegged for the third round — or lower, depending on the results of the second test.

* As long as the subject isn’t alleged NCAA violations at Oregon, Chip Kelly hasn’t been afraid to speak his mind since taking over the Eagles.

“I think the draft has depth,” Kelly said. “I don’t think, there’s not an Andrew Luck or an RG3, who you say, ‘That guy is going to be a 10-year All-Pro.’ …[Luck] was as close as there was to a can’t-miss guy. I don’t see that type of guy in this draft at any position, to be honest with you.”