Gurley still has 'nowhere to run'

Rams running back Todd Gurley still has ‘nowhere to run’

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/31242/rams-running-back-todd-gurley-still-has-nowhere-to-run

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Eric Dickerson ran behind some bad offensive lines in his last couple of years with Indianapolis in 1990 and ’91, the latter season ending with a 1-15 record. It was never more obvious to him than on Dec. 9, 1990, in a game against Buffalo. Opposing defensive lines were penetrating so quickly that Dickerson struggled to even beat them to take the handoff from his quarterback.

At one point his friend, Bruce Smith, then the Bills’ defensive end, told him, “Eric, we’re going to hurt you back here; they cannot block us. You better get down.”

“I won’t forget him saying that,” Dickerson said in a phone conversation this week.

It reminded him of Todd Gurley.

Five weeks in, and Gurley’s sophomore season has only grown stranger. What was supposed to be a breakout year, one in which he established himself as the new star of Los Angeles and perhaps even the game’s best running back, is on track to be one of the worst in history.

The Rams’ running back is averaging only 2.74 yards on his first 105 carries. It’s tied for the second-lowest rate since 1960 for those who carried the ball at least 100 times through a team’s first five games, according to data from Pro Football Reference. Eddie George did the same to begin his age-28, 2001 season for the Titans, who were led by Gurley’s current coach, Jeff Fisher. The only one to do worse was the Jets’ Curtis Martin, who averaged 2.71 yards per carry during the first five games of a 2005 season that ended up being his last.

Dickerson — and basically everybody else — doesn’t blame Gurley one bit.

“If you watch the games, there’s nowhere to go; there’s nowhere to run,” said Dickerson, who rushed for 6,968 yards in his first four seasons with the L.A. Rams from 1983 to ’86. “Any time a defensive lineman gets to the backfield, that’s a win for them. And nine times out of 10 it doesn’t turn out good. You get hit with the ball, you’ve got to make a cut in the backfield before you get the ball — it’s just not good. And there’s been a lot of that this year. That’s the problem.”

Opposing defenses don’t respect the Rams’ passing attack — it’s hard to when their quarterback, Case Keenum, is last in the NFL in Total QBR — but they aren’t stacking the box as often as it might seem. Gurley has faced eight or more men in the box on 11 of his rushes, fewer than nine other running backs. Melvin Gordon of San Diego (39 rushes with eight or more defenders in the box), LeGarrette Blount of New England and Devonta Freeman of Atlanta (33 each) have faced it a lot more frequently.

The bigger problem appears to be defensive linemen penetrating the line of scrimmage.

Rams running back Todd Gurley is averaging just 0.98 yards before first contact, because that first contact often happens in the backfield. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Gurley is averaging 0.98 yards before first contact, which is almost unfathomable. The second-place player, Charles Sims of Tampa Bay, is averaging 1.34. And no qualified running back has averaged fewer than 1.22 yards before first contact over the past seven seasons.

Dickerson watched the Rams’ Week 4 game against Arizona alongside fellow Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen, and they each saw one legitimate hole for Gurley to attack. During the Week 2 game against Seattle, Dickerson got a text from another Hall of Fame running back, Thurman Thomas, who wrote: “Man, that line is going to get Todd Gurley killed.”

Asked how much blame he gives the offensive line for Gurley’s struggles, Rams offensive coordinator Rob Boras said: “It’s everything. … It takes 11 guys to run the football.

“We’re going to continue to run the football,” Boras added. “That’s what we believe in. Sometimes the number games aren’t in our favor, but we’re going to continue running, because that’s what will help us with our run-action pass.”

Gurley ranks fourth in the NFL in carries but 19th in rushing yards, with 288, one year after finishing third as a rookie who started only 12 games. Defenses have zeroed in on Gurley since he rushed for a record 566 yards in his first four starts, and the Rams have had a hard time adjusting. In the 13 games that have followed, Gurley has reached 100 yards only once.

“I can guarantee you he’s working his tail off,” Keenum said of Gurley. “You guys see him out here early, in late, no matter what it is — protection, pass game, run game. It’ll come for him. He’s a heck of a player. He’s really, really, really talented; one of the top players in this league of really, really good players. I’m not worried about him, his mindset.”

The Rams are hopeful that Gurley can get going against a Detroit team that is allowing the NFL’s second-most rushing yards per carry, and they believe they made progress during their 30-19 loss against Buffalo on Sunday. The Rams rushed for a season-high 102 yards in that game, with Gurley breaking off runs for 12 and 16 yards. But he averaged a mere 3.1 yards per carry — the league average is 4.02 this season — and he fumbled twice and dropped a pass.

Early in the game, Gurley lined up on the outside, was the first read on a pass play and turned it into a 24-yard gain. But the Rams went away from that, targeting him as an outside receiver only one other time and waiting until the fourth quarter to do so.

Gurley’s three longest plays this season have all been receptions, because very little is working on the ground.

Dickerson is getting concerned about his well-being.

“Sooner or later, somebody’s going to knock into that backfield and hurt him,” Dickerson said. “I feel for him, because I know how much he wants it. Look, he’s in a new city, he’s in Los Angeles, the second-largest market. It’s Hollywood. People are asking me, ‘What’s wrong with Todd? What’s wrong with Todd?’ There’s nothing wrong with Todd.