In the interest of sparking a good debate during this slow season...

[Rams43]

First, check out this piece.

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/05/18/nfl-los-angeles-rams-todd-gurley-mvp-2018-insider/

I would like to draw your attention to this quote from this Ramwire piece...

Gurley is rightly seen as being the best player on this team, so that would give him an inside track to ending the quarterback position’s recent dominance of this award.

Is Gurley really the best player on this team? I mean he just finished an awesome MVP type season even though sitting out the last game where he might have been able to pad his stats even further.

Or is AD the best player on this team? Many think AD is a future HOF’er and the best D player in the league.

Each player is clearly the best on his unit. But which is the true best player on this team?

And why do you think your choice is the better player?

Discuss.

 

[nighttrain]

With Mannion at QB, nobody would hear about Gurley, sorry

train

 

[Rams43]

With Mannion at QB, nobody would hear about Gurley, sorry

train

WTH does that even mean, train? Lol.

 

[nighttrain]

Goff was a upper echelon QB last season, this year his ceiling will only be set by himself
train

 

[ReekofRams]

In my opinion the Rams will have the two best players in the NFL, Donald and Gurley. I will be happily satisfied when they decide which of these two is the most valuable player in the league. In other words, I'm not biting on debating.

Oh, and @nighttrain, what's going on with you? Did you forget to take your meds again?

 

[LesBaker]

Donald is the best player on the team. Gurley is more valuable. He should have won MVP last year.

Take AD off the team and replace him with a "good" DT and the record might still look the same, or 10-6.

Take Gurley off the team and replace him with a "good" RB and the dropoff is larger.

I just posted this in a response to you 43, sorry I hadn't gotten to this thread.

 

[LesBaker]

Oh, and @nighttrain, what's going on with you? Did you forget to take your meds again?

He never takes them, he peddles them on the street to buy booze and hookers.

 

[den-the-coach]

I'll take Todd Gurley for the win please....With a little help from his friends.

 

[dieterbrock]

With Mannion at QB, nobody would hear about Gurley, sorry

train

Rams are a playoff team without Gurley, without Goff they are drafting in 1st 5 picks

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Donald does what he does without relying on any other player. Gurley needs a good Oline to be as good as he is.

 

[den-the-coach]

Donald does what he does without relying on any other player. Gurley needs a good Oline to be as good as he is.

Agreed, but you can't win the game if it's 0-0.

 

[tempests]

How fortunate to have both. Their value no more obvious than the week 15 game against Seattle, Gurley 4 TDs, Donald 3 sacks, and both unquestionably the best players on the field.

Franchise cornerstones, they are.

I'll give the edge to Donald, he's simply the best defensive player in the game, and you could argue he should have won more than one DPOY award by now. As to what the Rams defense or W/L record might look like without him, let's just say I hope we never find out.

 

[badnews]

Johnny Hekker.
It's a game of inches and he gets us a lot of them.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Agreed, but you can't win the game if it's 0-0.

What does that have to do with anything? The topic is about who is the best player. You can't win if your defense sucks, too and we saw that for much of two decades with the Rams.

Running backs are more easily replaced than a great DT. That is why great DTs are drafted in the top five and, with the exception of this year, running backs aren't. The position is reliant on other variables and teams figured that out years ago.

 

[Picked4td]

personally its not even close. Donald is basically a lock for the hall of fame, and one of if not the best interior dlineman of all time already while Gurley is, as of now, just another great RB.

 

[TexasRam]

It’s a team game... exhibit A. Nick Foles.

Which part of your body is most important?

Your Brain? Your Heart? Your Johnson?

Your Eyes? Your mouth? Your intestines?

Lots of critical peices that are useless without the others.

 

[leoram]

Had Donald ever had a “bad” game? I know last year even he said he wasn’t up to his standards the first couple games after his holdout, but even then he was one the most effective players on the defense.

By comparison, Gurley was thought to have a “bad” sophomore season. How is this even a debate?

As far as most valuable, both sides of the ball would have to adapt without these two players. The offense would become more pass centric with a rotation of backs that tip the defense as to whether or not it is a pass or run. But they could do it, just not nearly as well. Perhaps the decline would go from #1 in scoring to somewhere in the top ten. Train is correct, the loss of Goff would create a more precipitous decline.

On defense, Suh could play 3 tech and the unit could still be formidable with another year under Wade, better corner play, and linebackers who I believe will be more of a fit than we had last year. However, with Donald...this could be an all time great defense since Suh, Donald, and Easley can provide the kind of pressure normally provided by edge rushers and will create free rushers from the back 7. Again, the difference here is that Donald makes everyone better.

But of the three, Goff, Gurley, and Donald...Goff is the most irreplaceable though his performance isn’t at the level of the other two. As train said, Mannion is the reason this is true.

 

[den-the-coach]

Running backs are more easily replaced than a great DT. .

Well, I'm not disagreeing with you I'm just pointing out that you have to score to win. Under Fisher, that philosphy was forgotten. Also Gurley is a very special running back, one that can catch as well as run and those running backs are drafted in the first round like Gurley, Elliott & Barkley for example.

There is no debating Donald is our best overall player, but I want Gurley in horns until he retires or until he's 30.

 

[PARAM]

It's always tough to pick the best player on a good team. Is Gurley the best player on the Rams? Absolutely. Is Aaron Donald the best player on the Rams? For sure. Is Jared Goff becoming the best player on the Rams? Without a doubt. And there are others who will perhaps emerge....Kupp, Everett.....and still others who will perhaps emerge once they start playing for the Rams.....Peters, Cooks, Kiser. It's a nice exercise....picking the best player on the team.....even if it's virtually impossible to pinpoint (IMHO). One thing it does is show we have enough "great players" to make up a great team.

 

[LesBaker]

Donald does what he does without relying on any other player. Gurley needs a good Oline to be as good as he is.

personally its not even close. Donald is basically a lock for the hall of fame, and one of if not the best interior dlineman of all time already while Gurley is, as of now, just another great RB.

Well, I'm not disagreeing with I'm just pointing out that you have to score to win.

There is no debating Donald is our best overall player, but I want Gurley in horns until he retires or until he's 30.

@den-the-coach is right here, and I have posted something similar.

An elite RB or even a top 5 RB can effect the scoreboard more than Donald can. And that's the difference. Donald is the best defensive player in the NFL in my opinion and I don't think there is even a debate about that unless it comes from a biased Texans fan. There is a reason he easily won DPOY.

However this era is all about offense and a player like Gurley makes more of an overall impact on the scoreboard. Football in the NFL is not a sport, it's a business and a competition otherwise it would be free and they wouldn't keep score.

The only DT's in the last 30 years that went to the HOF are Cortez Kennedy, John Randle, Warren Sapp and Randy White.

One of those played in the "passing era" that being Sapp, the rest played well before the rules became slanted towards the offense.

If Gurley were one dimensional, or limited or just really good this would be a much different debate and would be one sided. But he is as versatile as any back in the league right now and is growing into a Faulk type of role. I'm not saying he has Faulk's "football IQ" I'm saying he is playing that kind of role. He's a threat in the running and passing game and is a player that can break off big gains or take it to the end zone anytime he touches the ball.

Last year he accounted for about 140 yards per game. Plus when defenses key on him and focus on slowing him down the Rams punish them through the air.

If the Rams are going to be in the mix for the SB for the next 4-6 years they need Goff and Gurley in the backfield.

There are three games that the Rams won last year where Gurley was the difference. With a "very good" RB those may have been losses. The Cowboys game, the Titans game, and the 49ers game early in the year were all wins because of his performance/production.


That's my opinion anyway.