Todd Gurley Yay or Nay?

[dieterbrock]

I guess Leveon Bell is done too 10/32 and Murray? 12/44 he's toast.

 

[FaulkSF]

I dunno - it did not look like Gurley faced 8 in the box much to me. Maybe I forgot how to count?

I think you're both right. Safeties were playing shallow (less than 15 yds from scrimmage) most of the game and released backwards when a pass was identified.

You could call it 8-9 in the box or not, makes no difference. Colts dared Joe Montana to beat them, he did.

 

[HellRam]

Seems like Pagano was fine with Goff torching them instead of Gurley. He did well with what he was given but still has room for improvement. Interestingly, none of the top backs did much yesterday though.

Noticed that. Bell looked off, I bet that hold out had something to do with that. Hopefully Donald isn't as rusty. And David Johnson looked pretty average yesterday as well.

 

[Loyal]

Seems like Pagano was fine with Goff torching them instead of Gurley. He did well with what he was given but still has room for improvement. Interestingly, none of the top backs did much yesterday though.

Exactly.
Teams in the NFL may be changing their Ram's game plan after yesterday, but I wouldn't blame them for think "Stop Gurley" and let Goff try to beat us.....Better go to plan B, boys....and once they do, OFF GOES GURLEY...

 

[bwdenverram]

I said yesterday he looked a little slow, but that said no way I go away from him. Run blocking wasn't great for anyone yesterday in general. As teams see we can really sling it around now I think the line will continue to open holes..

 

[UKram]

I think it was Higbee on both of the holds.

Higbee needs a crap ton of work as an inline blocker.

At least 20 yards cost......

He also got Austin free on the sweep .. and stopped Goff getting smeared on a pass play .... I'll call it even

 

[Angry Ram]

Noticed that. Bell looked off, I bet that hold out had something to do with that. Hopefully Donald isn't as rusty. And David Johnson looked pretty average yesterday as well.

Le'Veon is an every down back with a huge workload, and a type of player every defender focuses on. Aaron has the luxury to be rotated in and out.

Also, David Johnson being held in check isn't surprising. Lions have an underrated defense.

 

[yrba1]

Yay, not concerned at his progression but I do question his status as an elite back. Adrian Peterson in his prime ran behind shitty O-lines but was still able to make ridiculous chunks of yardage.

 

[Ramstien]

For all you that think Gurley looks slow let me remind you that he has sprinter's speed. They need to get him out in space or open up some holes for him to run thru.

 

[dieterbrock]

Adrian Peterson in his prime ran behind crappy O-lines but was still able to make ridiculous chunks of yardage

Pro bowlers, Bryant McKinnie (LT), Steve Hutchinson (LG) and Matt Birk (C) disagree with your assesmnt that AP ran behind "crappy" lines

 

[Juggs]

I'm off the wagon personally. He is not the same back that he was. I don't know if he got lazy and it's coming to his play or if the schemes just don't fit. Either way, I'm ready to move on after this year. Nothing bad to say about him...just something isn't right there.

 

[JewerlPeacock]

Re Gurley, for a analagous situation, look at a lot of the Game-Day thread comments about the team into the second-quarter of yesterday's game: "McVay is no better than Fisher;" "Goff doesn't look like he's improved at all;" "our defense is getting ripped to shreds".... comments to that effect. 37 points later- but in the same game- and everyone is proclaiming this team the GSOT Part 2. Perspective much?

Point is, let's not make too much of one game. One, last year was a nightmare for everyone, especially for the O-line, and that of course impacted Gurley. Two, Gurley's performance yesterday was average; not great, but not terrible either. Three, as others have pointed out, Gurley's play will likely improve as he and the line get further in synch and develop a rhythm. Four, Gurley will have more room to run as opponent's develop the proper respect for our new Air-McVay passing game!

Hence, it's ridiculous to start writing Gurley's Ram's obituary at this point. Now, if his numbers look this way through 16 games, then I may reconsider. But at this point, Gurley has way too much talent and heart to write off. Give him 16 games to show what he can do with some talent around him.

 

[StealYoGurley]

terrible run blocking was the only major negative takeaway from yesterday's game me. There was less run killing penetration like last year, but the line failed to impose their will and get a consistent push.

Gurley holds some blame though. For a bigger RB he really isn't a power back who thrives in between the tackles. He is at his best out in space and we saw that yesterday in the screen game and when he caught some passes with open field. That's when he is really special, but he hasn't shown the vision or patience to consistently get chunks in between the tackles especially when the line struggles to run block. Get him one on ones against LBs or dbs and he can look special if not there is still areas where he can grow as a runner

 

[Ramhusker]

terrible run blocking was the only major negative takeaway from yesterday's game me. There was less run killing penetration like last year, but the line failed to impose their will and get a consistent push.

Gurley holds some blame though. For a bigger RB he really isn't a power back who thrives in between the tackles. He is at his best out in space and we saw that yesterday in the screen game and when he caught some passes with open field. That's when he is really special, but he hasn't shown the vision or patience to consistently get chunks in between the tackles especially when the line struggles to run block. Get him one on ones against LBs or dbs and he can look special if not there is still areas where he can grow as a runner

Exactly. Gurley is really just an average back between the tackles but elite when it comes to pass catching and negotiating the open field. Put behind the Dallas OL last year and he'd be over 2000 yds from LOS. He's fine and I'd imagine in a couple more weeks, we won't be having this conversation.

 

[OC_Ram]

IDK

 

[Riverumbbq]

We'll have a better indication about how the team feels with Gurley early next year when they have to decide whether to give him a 5'th year option for 2019.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

He is good enough. I just don't see the 'best on the league' guy that many here hoped for.

Personally, I prefer a little more wiggle in a RB

 

[bnw]

Fact is he is not as advertised in most peoples minds. Gurley would not be in any current legit top ten RB lists, however he is better than most other RB's & is a workhorse type RB who can play all 3 downs & get you some good first downs @ this time. He is just as good in the passing game as the LOS stuff. I would expect to see Gurley utilized in the short passing game more & more where he could be a bit more effective.

Bottom line Gurley's burst has left the Rams building.

I noticed he has the SJ39 stutter step at the line. At least SJ broke it for a big gain or two most games.

 

[Gandalf]

He was a step away a couple of times and a flag away a few more. He didn't look easy to bring down on his TD run. Eventually the passing game will open up more space for him as well as Tavon.

 

[-X-]

He doesn't look any slower to me. I never really thought of him as a fast back anyway. I think where he's going to be most dangerous is in the passing game. Screens, curls, flats, etc. He's most effective in space, so we just need to devise a way to get him there (in space). I also think he'll get going once defenses begin to realize that we're now a TWO dimensional offense & drop some more guys in coverage.