Getty Images

The widespread reports that the Packers wanted Eddie Lacy to lose 30 pounds this offseason were probably a little oversimplified.

As noted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers are assessing players with dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), a method that uses two X-ray beams to measure the muscle, fat and bone mass in a person’s body. When asked about Lacy this offseason Packers coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t answer directly about his weight but did talk about his body composition.

“Every player has a body composition, so that’s what we focus on,” McCarthy said. “That’s a daily focus and evaluation between the weight room and the training room and the nutrition. . . . It’s based on his body composition.”

When the Packers want to assess how well a player kept himself in shape during the offseason, the DXA scan tells a lot more than a scale. If a player spends the offseason on the couch eating junk food and gains five pounds of fat while losing five pounds of muscle, the scale won’t reveal any difference. The DXA will.

In fact, many of the best-conditioned NFL players would be labeled as obese using the normal BMI height and weight charts, because a large portion of an NFL player’s weight is dense muscle. The Packers reportedly wanted the 5-foot-11 Lacy to get down to about 231 pounds this offseason, which would give him a BMI of 32.2, well into the obese range. What the Packers really want is for Lacy to get into top shape, and it will be a DXA exam, not a scale, that helps determine that.