NFC West Q&A: Can Todd Gurley still become an elite running back?

After a strong rookie year, Todd Gurley found little room to run last season. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Todd Gurley went from Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 to one of the least productive runners of the 2016 season, compiling 885 rushing yards on 278 attempts.

One thing Gurley lacks is supporting cast. The Los Angeles Rams, who ranked last in yards in each of the past two seasons, have way too much work to do on offense. There are reasons to believe that Gurley will be better moving forward, though. Sean McVay, a prodigy when it comes to the way offenses function, should dream up creative ways of opening up running lanes for Gurley. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth will no doubt improve an offense line that was one of the NFL’s worst units last season.

Heading into his second year, Jared Goff still has a lot to prove, and that receiving corps still leaves something to be desired. Because of those two question marks, defenses will continue to stack the box and focus primarily on stopping Gurley, confident the Rams passing attack won’t hurt them all that much.

Do you believe Gurley can still be an elite running back?

Josh Weinfuss, Arizona Cardinals reporter: In a nutshell, yes. He’s a talent, and in the NFL, talent will shine when paired with the right pieces. Beyond that, Gurley’s talent didn’t just disappear last season. He averaged 2.7 yards per carry before contact in 2015 compared to 1.59 last season -- a sign he wasn’t getting enough space to move before the defense converged. Some of the blame has to fall on the offensive line, which was improved this offseason through the signing of veteran tackle Whitworth. Whitworth may be 35, but his presence on the line should bolster its physicality and productivity, giving Gurley room and allowing him to run more freely. Gurley has the potential to be one of the best running backs in the NFL, with the talent to rival the likes of David Johnson and Ezekiel Elliott. Another factor that could fuel his resurgence involves the expected improvement of Goff. If Goff can grow like most players do between their rookie and second seasons, then an improved passing game will open up the ground game for Gurley, allowing him to return to the elite running back conversation.

Nick Wagoner, San Francisco 49ers reporter: This doesn't seem like a simple yes or no question anymore. Gurley had an impressive stretch of brilliance as a rookie, largely buoyed by his big-play ability. Nobody topped his 14 20-plus-yard runs in 2015. Despite those numbers, Gurley was hindered by a questionable offensive line and questionable passing game, and his production dipped in the final stretch of the season. Last year, Gurley couldn't recapture the magic he displayed during the first half of his rookie campaign. Once again, some of the blame has to fall on a poor supporting cast and an unimaginative offense, but Gurley also didn't resemble his 2015 self on the rare occasion when holes were open. He broke 47 tackles as a rookie, good for seventh-best in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year, that number dropped to 41, even though Gurley had 71 more touches. As a result, he ripped off only two 20-plus-yard runs and averaged just 3.18 yards per carry. Yes, teams were focused on stopping Gurley, and yes, he didn't have much help, but the truly elite running backs find ways to get yards. Gurley should be better in McVay's offense, but the new head coach's emphasis on passing leads me to believe that Gurley will be less of a focal point for the Rams in 2017. Though McVay's presence might help Gurley put up better numbers, it might also prevent him from becoming the elite back many thought he'd be after his rookie season.

Sheil Kapadia, Seattle Seahawks reporter: I’m not sure about elite, but Gurley can still be a quality back in the NFL. The numbers suggest that blocking was a huge issue for Gurley and the Rams last season. Gurley averaged 1.59 yards before contact, which ranked 41st out of 42 players last season. In 2015, that number was 2.70, good for 10th among running backs. The Rams need to devise some way of threatening defenses with their passing game at least occasionally in order for Gurley to return to his 2015 form.

If J Brown works out at RT and Sullivan ztays healthy our line will be ok. Top 22 offense plus
top 5-8 defense might=9-10 wins.

Watched the whole AZ game, wk 17, Goff had to throw at 2.3 secs almost every pass--and even then he was getting waylaid. He didnt find WRs past 7 yards...lost. With a high school offense that is what you get

Tavon needs to step up on the 15+ yds routes or else teams sit on Woods and Kupp...top 22 is a wish for this O.

All opinion, imho

VegasRam said:

Dallas is for real. Cleveland?- c'mon man.
Jacksonville may click, but Carolina's going nowhere imo. They have a huge QB problem that ain't going away.
Not sure he ever had it, but Newton's lost his mojo. All he read his whole(and NFL) life was how great he was

All Goff's heard (read) otth, is how bad he sucked. They are going in opposite directions.

As to the OP, be nice to know wtf you're talking about - just sayin', not hatin'.

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Just thinking about what a fan really is. No hate taken. things are looking up.

Sneads 3 strikes Felony Fireable Offence - re-upped Tavon Austin on a four-year, $42 million extension----drafting Greg Robinson----Brian Quick.

You can spin last seasons ugliness in multiple ways with multiple primary targets. This article is merely one of those. Its all blah blah blah to me.

I cant believe ya'll found a way to take it so seriously.

Lets go Rams in 2017!

then there are reports like this

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2720988

Bust or Nah: Which Disappointing 2016 NFL Rookies Will Bounce Back?

by SEAN TOMLINSON

Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams

1. 
   "It's hard enough having "starting NFL quarterback" as your job title. When "franchise savior" is also added to your responsibilities, the weight begins to feel crushing.
   
   That's what Jared Goff faced when the Los Angeles Rams made him the first overall pick in 2016. Sam Bradford, the last savior, fizzled due to both injuries and ineffectiveness. Now it was Goff's turn to restore relevance to the Rams.
   
   As Wentz and Goff both demonstrated, rookie quarterbacks typically endure growing pains. But unlike Wentz, Goff didn't have even a brief flash of brilliance in 2016.
   
   The alarms were blaring before he took his first regular-season snap. Goff completed just 44.9 percent of his preseason passes, which often came against second- and third-team scrubs. He couldn't beat out Case Keenum for the starting job. Keenum went on to throw 10 interceptions over the Rams' first seven games.
   
   When the Rams finally gave in and started Goff, he was often under immense pressure while playing behind a poor offensive line. The 22-year-old was sacked 26 times over only seven starts. L.A. signed left tackle Andrew Whitworth this offseason, which should provide Goff with better protection this season.
   
   Even when Goff had time to scan the field and throw, Football Outsiders rated him as the worst performer without pressure since 2010, ranking lower than the likes of Brady Quinn, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder. Barring drastic improvement this season, that casts serious doubt over his NFL future.
   
   Prediction: Bust"
   

Prime Time said:

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/885265094057140224

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Great food and one of my favorite Rams in the same video? I can't stop watching this.

Ogletree gets absolutely no respect. He is probably the most underrated player on the Rams with Maurice Alexander and Brockers right behind him.

Damn....no brainer on the move....I hope Stan K uses the money...Wisely:mrburns:

Not going to beat up the Ram Org. on this situation. It was a tough spot we were in. Some very hard decisions had to be made where you end up going with the best of a several very bad situations/issues.Its obvious that this was a gamble this Org. was willing to take that would work out in other units in McVay.

I selected 3 previous past posts of mine that conveys my thoughts on this situation.Bottom line this will be Trumaine's last season in a Ram uni.

http://www.ramsondemand.com/threads...impact-potential-with-rams.49913/#post-909807

http://www.ramsondemand.com/threads/rams-cb-trujo-talking-himself-out-of-la-in-18.49713/#post-904872

http://www.ramsondemand.com/threads/poll-tru-johnson-or-janoris-jenkins.49683/#post-904312

Delete...... Login to view embedded media

Here's a two-part common sense plan that might work: (a) stop pushing your social justice agenda on viewers who watch the game to get away from that for 3 hours. (b) get rid of the Thursday night games. We already have the NFL on Sundays, Sunday nights, and Monday nights.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-said-to-contend-with-football-ad-sales-slump

ESPN, Broadcasters Are Said to Confront Football Ad Slump
By Lucas Shaw

TV networks including ESPN are bracing for a drop in advertising revenue for football games in the coming season, which could drag down sales growth for sports broadcasts overall, advertising and television executives say.

A decline in ratings for National Football League games last season has hurt sales this year, along with a saturated market for college games and spending cuts by drug and auto companies, said the executives, who asked not to be identified discussing private talks. While a few deals have yet to close, some of the biggest sponsors have indicated they’ll be spending less.

While the networks have raised prices for spots during NFL games next season, total ad revenue for the broadcasts is trending a few percentage points below a year ago, the executives said. NFL ad spending totaled $3.5 billion last year, according to Standard Media Index, a researcher.



That’s a blow to media giants that rely on sports for a growing share of their business. Sports were long thought to be a safe haven for TV networks because viewers savored the live viewing experience and were more likely to sit through commercials, but the erosion of the NFL’s audience last season has thrown that assumption into question. ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS and the NFL Network all carry pro football.

“If advertisers were buying football because they believe it’s always going to grow, what happened this past season proves football is not immune to decline,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research.

Still, many of the most-watched shows on TV last year were sports, which accounted for 31 percent of national TV advertising in 2016, up from 22 percent in 2011, according to Kantar Media. ESPN has been a major contributor to Walt Disney Co.’s profit, while 21st Century Fox Inc., parent of the Fox network, has invested heavily in sports. Virtually all of the largest media companies, including CBS Corp., NBC owner Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc., have costly long-term contracts to air sports.

Not all of the news is bad. Sponsor interest in daytime talk shows, news and late-night comedy is picking up some slack. Rising rates in those areas allowed CBS to post higher upfront ad sales for the new season. Disney said ad sales at its ABC network as well as cable outlets such as Freeform grew at a high single-digit rate. Those didn’t include sports.

Most-Watched

And some advertisers, including women’s brands, are showing more interest in sports, according to Adam Schwartz, an ad buyer with Horizon Media in New York.

But pro football is the most-watched programming in the U.S. and secures the largest ad deals. TV viewership of the NFL fell 8 percent last year, according to Nielsen data, hurt by poor matchups and competition from the presidential election, along with negative publicity surrounding head concussions and player protests during the national anthem.

NFL deals with the four main broadcast networks are mostly wrapped up. NBC typically sets the market with “Sunday Night Football,” the most-watched regularly scheduled prime-time program.

Some ad buyers say NBC accepted smaller rate increases this year to take share from CBS and Fox, where sales declined as a result. All of the broadcasters have complained privately or publicly about the rising number of games and ways to advertise in the NFL.

The league created a new Thursday night series a few years ago; this year 18 Thursday games will be available on TV, with 11 streamed at Amazon.com Inc., according to the NFL.

Against that backdrop, auto companies are spending less as sales retreat from record levels, while drug companies pull back due to new generic medicines, according to buyers and TV executives.

Absent Viagra

Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra hasn’t aired a national TV ad since May 15, and sat out the 2017-18 upfront market, according to a report in Advertising Age. Viagra has been one of the 40 biggest advertisers for the NFL, but will soon face competition from a generic version. The company declined to comment on its ad plans.

“The bigger pharmaceutical companies are pulling out, and it’s having an impact,” said Schwartz, who works with Geico, Capital One Financial Corp. and Sprint Corp.

The NFL has crammed popular teams into nationally televised night games early in the season, hoping to lift ratings. The New England Patriots, defending champions, play the first regular season game on Thursday, Sept. 7, while the Dallas Cowboys play the first Sunday night game against division rivals the New York Giants. The Green Bay Packers play the Sunday night game in week two.

Aside from the NFL, college football is the biggest sport up for sale at the moment. College ratings were steady last year, but sports networks are offering more games, such as Fox’s Big Ten package, just as advertisers grow more wary. The four broadcast networks -- CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox -- all air college football in the fall, as do more than a dozen cable networks, from ESPN and Fox Sports 1 to the Pac-12 Network.

ESPN’s Sales

Competition has forced ESPN, the market leader, to take a more conciliatory approach with its college coverage. With Fox eager to steal viewers and ad sales, ESPN has accepted less than the rate increase it demanded last year, according to people familiar with the matter.

ESPN still has a ways to go in closing deals, and the network is still on course to meet its targets for next season, in part by relying on growth for other broadcasts such as National Basketball Association games, a person familiar with the matter said. A shortfall would mean another headache for parent Disney; the network has lost millions of paying subscribers and has cut staff, including high-profile on-air personalities.

“ESPN is at a crossroads,” Michael Nathanson, an analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC, wrote in a recent report. The audience for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” shrank 12 percent last season.

ESPN broadcasts only one NFL game a week and has to split some inventory with local affiliates, so it’s not as affected by a drop in prices for the league’s games as others are, the person said. The network expects its college-football broadcasts to draw interest from advertisers buying spots during the season, the person said.

The Disney network is trying to shore up its ad business by selling more spots for viewing that occurs outside the home, such as in bars or hotels. Disney plans to introduce a standalone ESPN streaming service this year.

“They’ve lost a ton of money in subscriber fees and they are trying to get that money back,” Schwartz said. “It’s not just them. The entire marketplace is gravitating toward out of home and ESPN is the leader.”

Selassie I said:

McVay is the ANTI-Fisher !!!!

:yess::yess::yess::yess::yess::yess:

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I predict McVay will be Like the second coming of Coaches Allen/Knox/Robinson all rolled into one!!:yay::yess:

Faceplant said:

OK, no sense in even discussing anything with you at this point. You are just too much of a "realist" for me I guess. Hate on hater....

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Realist huh? Well, if stats and the eye-test....like, what I see week in & week out make me a "hater"....LOLOLOLOLOL

You claim to love the team....yet you seem to not want improvements unless they come from certain players....me....I cheer for the Rams...not necessarily a player.

Prime Time said:

Once more though, the chances of any player surpassing Donald as long as he is with the Rams are minimal.

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Tru should just do AD a solid and give him some of his chee$e:hehy):mrburnsevil::snicker:

[GALLERY=media, 226]20170712_014726 by BatteringRambo posted Jul 12, 2017 at 1:49 AM[/GALLERY]

No mess with less weight on the head.
:rolllaugh:

tomas said:

You stupid, dumb bastard ..

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.

I haven't seen any of the shows so my opinion comes from watching Rams football with reading info and opinions here.

First thing is I wish Jeff had stayed with Bradford one more year. It wouldn't cha
nged Fisher's overall failure but, he might have had a winning season. Lot of close games that Bradford could have made a big difference over the inferior Nick Foles. Fisher seemed like a good motivator for division games except last years Whiners opener. However, all to often the Rams came out flat outside of those games. His Rams teams and game planning were never good enough to over come starting games flat.

The aging Wells and Long along with the Bradford injuries put the offense behind the eight ball. His Rams didn't hit on the offensive draft picks to help resurrect the offense which made matters worse. Better offensive coordinators would have helped the play calling and maybe the drafting. Fishers's Rams could never straighten out the offensive line problems which hurt any offensive advancement. Add the inability to get a QB close to Bradford's physical talents made the offense near non existent.

He left some talent for McVay to work with. He and the Rams over paid on many contracts but, didn't bury the Rams cap management. He left a very solid defensive base to build on and some offensive talent to work with. After five years the Rams are better off than when Jeff Fisher took over. The Rams were really really bad before Fisher.

It's actually a very complex process but in a way you do use sand. They actually use microbes that use the volatile solids as a food source to clean the human element of it out. Then they run it through sand to clean the inert material out so it's basically adding more sand. Sand filters do occasionally need a backwash cycle but the backwash water is typically only 4-7% of the water which is successfully filtered.

DaveFan'51 said:

This list has the right guys, But I don't agree with the order, So I fixed it!

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Nice....

Not on stats but on game....

Champs list
Number 10 - Terrell Pryor(Skins)

Number 9 - Alshon Jeffery(Eagles)

Number 8 - Martavious Bryant(Steelers)

Number 7 - Jordy Nelson(Packers)

Number 6 -Golden Tate(Lions)

Number 5 - Mike Evans(Bucs)

Number 4 - A.J. Green(Bengals)

Number 3 - Odell Beckham Jr.(Giants)

Number 2 - Antonio Brown(Steelers)

Number 1 - Julio Jones(Falcons)

DaveFan'51 said:

Thanks Prime! I was serious, I just didn't remember it!!

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Welcome to my world, Dave.

Soul Surfer said:

What does that matter?
He played his rear end off for us and gave us depth and starter ability and he would have given us continuity if they had kept him.

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He went to the Jets & was a RB before Bennie & Zach ? There was a guard The Rams drafted that played guard & center. Around Greco's time. Talk about a guy The Rams should have kept. What about that FB The Rams released & helped take NJ Giants to the Super Bowl?

dieterbrock said:

Donald deserves a raise. The Rams have come to the table, have agreed he deserves one. The "disrespect" occurs if they leave the table and let him play on his rookie deal. That is total disrespect.
He deserves to paid like the top defensive player in the league, because he is. And he deserves it now.

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So what if they have already offered him an excellent new contract and he has declined to sign? Does that mean he is disrespecting the organization? Is he disrespecting the organization because he is reneging on the contract he signed as a rookie? If he plays well over the next two or three years can they expect him to once again go back on his word and want even more?

Contracts and respect are a two way street. When you sign a contract you are giving your word you will stand by your side of the deal. Who gets respect by backing out on your word?

FWIW the players do not agree that he is the top defensive player in the game. In fact he is listed as the #4 defensive player and "only" 15th overall.