Todd Gurley’s future is looking bright after a dominant Week 4 performance
On November 15, 2014, Georgia’s star running back Todd Gurley suffered a torn ACL against the Auburn Tigers. Gurley’s junior season was quickly over, and he was left with a tough decision to make – come back for his senior year or to forego it to declare for the 2015 NFL Draft. Gurley decided to forego his senior year and entered the draft where he was a projected first round pick. When the St. Louis Rams decided to draft Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick of the draft, they knew they were taking a bit of a gamble. But, the potential that Gurley could bring to the Rams made the pick well worth it.
Import your team for free to get waiver wire advice 
You have to take knee injuries very seriously as they have cut the careers short from NFL greats like Gale Sayers, Terrell Davis, Daunte Culpepper, Brian Westbrook and Ickey Woods. But the Georgia star was considered to be the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson, so the Rams took a shot. At 6’1” and 230 pounds, Gurley possesses a rare speed-power combo and in just two and a half seasons at Georgia, he rushed for 3,285 yards, averaging an impressive 6.4 yards per carry. Gurley rehabbed his knee and found himself back on the field less than a year later when he made his NFL debut in Week 3. There is definitely some concern for re-injury, but Gurley showed us in Week 4 that he is back and ready to take the NFL by storm.
With the Rams wanting to be careful with Gurley, they slowly worked him into their plans in Week 3 giving just him six carries. They finally let him loose in Week 4 when he turned 19 carries into 146 yards on the road against the undefeated Arizona Cardinals. Though close throughout, the Rams led the entire game. Since the Rams were leading, Arizona stacked the box to stop the run. Well, that didn’t stop Gurley as he put up 106 of his yards in the fourth quarter alone!
Three things worth noting stuck out in his Week 4 matchup with the Cardinals. First, late in the third quarter, Gurley took the ball out wide and lost it as he got hit. One might think he has a ball handling issue. However, he only fumbled three times in 575 career touches at Georgia, so I am not worried about it. He also rebounded well in the fourth quarter, as we already talked about.
Secondly, Gurley had four runs of 20 yards or more. Fun fact, this puts him tied atop the NFL in 20+ yard rushes the year; and he did this in one game.
Finally, he broke free of the defense and could have tried to score his first NFL touchdown late in the fourth quarter. But he put his team before his personal stats and kneeled down inbounds to help run the clock out and seal the victory. Something tells me he is going to be a special player.
Gurley has a bright future ahead of him with the St. Louis Rams. The Rams’ offensive line gave both Tre Mason and Zac Stacy career years while in the starting role. It is scary to think about what damage Gurley can do behind this offensive line knowing that he is a far superior talent. There will definitely be some growing pains during his rookie year, but I am jumping on board and not looking back. The Rams’ defense will get better, allowing more touches for Gurley. Going forward, Gurley is a high RB2 with serious RB1 potential.
Get Start/Sit & Waiver Advice with My Playbook
Daniel Barns is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Daniel, check out his archive or follow him @barnsdc.
