2013 Breakout Rookie Performer: St. Louis Rams RB Zac Stacy

Oct 6, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Zac Stacy (30) runs past Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin (58) during the first half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams seem to be in a load of trouble right now with Sam Bradford out for the season with a knee injury, but one area where this team has really seemed to make an improvement through last year’s draft was at the running back position with Zac Stacy.

Stacy, the former Vanderbilt Commodore, was drafted in the fifth round by the Rams but it’s hard to imagine why. At Vanderbilt, Stacy rushed for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons with 24 touchdowns and over five yards per carry.

You’d think that kind of production coming from an SEC tailback would generate a lot more interest, especially since Stacy was going up against the best of the best in college football with certainly less talented offensive line play than guys running for Alabam, Florida, Georgia, and the like.

Still, the rest of the NFL’s loss is the Rams’ gain, and it appears as though they’ve unearthed a true gem in Zac Stacy.

All the rookie has done this year is run for 344 yards in four games, and though he has yet to score a touchdown, there’s no doubt that moment is near.

Stacy is compactly built at 5’8″ 224 pounds, and drew some Maurice Jones-Drew comparisons in the Rams’ Monday night loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Running all over the Seattle D–one of the best in the NFL–Stacy racked up 134 yards on 26 carries, showing burst, vision, and power.

I was extremely impressed by Stacy, and had to look back on some notes we had on him before the draft. We thought he might have a bit of an uphill battle as a later round pick, but certainly was a player tabbed as a high-upside pick if he could play at the level he did for Vandy.

Certainly Stacy drew some praise from draft analysts across the web, including Josh Norris over at Rotoworld.

The Rams have to be excited with what they’ve seen from Stacy thus far, and I think he could be a high impact player for them for years to come.