is Gurley similar to any former Rams RBs?

Well, we’re not talking about Marcus Lattimore, here. His knee was basically ripped to shreds and he never played for the 9ers. Which is a damned shame, he had a star bright future. I’m glad he at least got that first contract, though, even if he never played.

Anyway. Word on Gurley is that he had a CLEAN ACL tear with almost ZERO collateral damage including no damage to the meniscus. It’s about as clean as it gets. So, if the repair work was done well and he heals well, which all signs point to yes (I mean, the kid had Andrews do the surgery and he rehabbed at the Andrews Academy in conjunction with EXOS), then he should be ready to go.

Understand that he has a complete plan, everything down to diet and I’m sure sleep schedule. They’ve calorie counted this kid and the whole shebang. He’s on a special diet to speed ligament healing, the whole 9 yards. That part comes from Dr Andrews, himself, btw.

And… he’s only 20 years old. So, since he’s still in the final growth stages, his healing is still in that accelerated stage.

What amazes me is what he was able to do behind that Georgia OL. It wasn’t much. Gordon rocked behind that Wisconsin OL and we know that they dominated… but the Georgia OL… did anyone of them even get drafted? I don’t think so. And yet, their RB went first overall. What I’m getting at is Gurley’s Yards after Contact is crucially important.

What Gurley is is a combination… He’s like this on the slider between Bruising w/speed and Speed w/Bruising

Marshawn Lynch……Todd Gurley..Adrian Peterson

I really think he’s capable of being on their level, but he’s somewhere in between their styles. I don’t think he’ll want to be AS bruising as Lynch, but I don’t think he’ll initially explode like AP did. I think Gurley is CLOSER to AP than Lynch, but he’s not an AP clone. He’s capable of banging like Lynch and really enjoys punishing defenders like Lynch does.

His longevity will depend on him being more like AP as a runner, though, and I hope our OL and passing game allows that to happen.

Nothing would please me more than for a Ram RB to break ED’s record.

I guess.

Normally, I don’t go to extremes. I didn’t with Zac Stacy and haven’t with Tre Mason.

Gurley has the ceiling to warrant the extremes AS PART of the discussion. I suppose he could end up being JAG, but I tend to doubt it…

What amazes me is what he was able to do behind that Georgia OL. It wasn’t much. Gordon rocked behind that Wisconsin OL and we know that they dominated… but the Georgia OL… did anyone of them even get drafted? I don’t think so. And yet, their RB went first overall. What I’m getting at is Gurley’s Yards after Contact is crucially important.

the only thing i have to say is that freshman nick chubb, at least statistically, had as impressive a season if not more.

are they both that good? actually nick chubb really does look that good. he’ll be one to watch in a couple years.

similarly chubb had 3.3 yards after contact to gurley’s 3.9.

i just wonder how much of it was the offensive system, and how much of it was due to their individual talents.

also. gordon wasn’t so shabby himself in the yards after contact department. 3.6 which ranked third in this draft class right behind gurley. coleman led all running backs in that department with 4.0. some think coleman might end up being the best running back in this draft. i hope they’re wrong of course.

also. yeah. as far as acl tears go. this would have to rank among the less traumatic. unlike a lattimore. or a willis mcgahee. or a robert edwards. shoot. not even an adrian peterson if reports are to be believed. ap actually tore two ligaments in his knee.

so. we’ll see. i happen to believe in the sec backs more than i do the big ten backs. which is why i tend to favor gurley. better competition. better athletes. still wondering though whether gordon was the safer bet. or maybe a tevin coleman. but i’m not sure they have the power that fisher was probably wanting from that position.

from off the net

==

73Ram

His power is more subtle than bam. Marshawn Lynch is the bam power back who loads up to deliver the blow that he bounces off and continuers running. Todd isn’t like that and that is the biggest reason why I don’t think Todd is comparable to Lynch.

Watching Todd run he leans into the hit where the defenders can’t get that solid hit but ends up bouncing off, because of the leverage/angle. To me Todd is just a very smooth runner, nothing choppy or erratic.

I also think he is similar to Herschel Walker in the way they both run. Herschel would drive through a tackler a little more aggressively than Todd, but BOTH got the job done rather easily. Herschel was also a fluid runner.

Peterson, Lynch (X 2), Fred Taylor and Jamal Lewis (personnel execs interviewed by Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000388547/article/ask-5-who-does-georgia-rb-todd-gurley-remind-you-of

Georgia RB Todd Gurley was the talk of college football after his monster performance against Clemson on Saturday in the season opener for both teams. His style reminded me a lot of Jamal Lewis, a player that came through Baltimore while I was a scout for the Ravens eight years ago.

Who does he remind you of? That’s a question I posed to five NFL personnel executives this week. Some interesting names surfaced.

Executive No. 1: Adrian Peterson

“He’s in the Adrian Peterson mold — big, tall, thick trunk, downhill runner with track speed to finish.”

Executive No. 2: Marshawn Lynch

“Powerful guy, runs through contact and finishes every single run.”

Executive No. 3: Marshawn Lynch

“Strong, powerful and has great vision. Both guys are intense runners. They are both very capable in the passing game.”

Executive No. 4: Fred Taylor

“He reminds me of Fred coming out of Florida. Big back with plenty of speed.”

Executive No. 5: Jamal Lewis

“He’s a bigger version of Jamal. They are both power backs with excellent acceleration. Gurley has better balance and lateral quicks than (Lewis).”

Verdict: Lynch was the only player to garner multiple votes from our panel, receiving two of the five cast.

Conclusion: These are all great comparisons. After seeing Gurley live in action last fall, I immediately thought of Lewis because of the power/speed combo. I had forgotten about Fred Taylor. I like that one even more.

Follow Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter @MoveTheSticks.

bnw wrote:

AP, ML,FT, JL. I wonder if any of them started their NFL with as serious an injury as an ACL? I wonder if any of them were projected as part time RBs?

McCutcheon did. And he’s on the Rams personnel staff. Moreover, ACLs are not AS serious as they were back then—they have since developed more effective surgical and rehab procedures. On top of which, Gurley’s ACL was very “clean”–it did not come, as most of these do, with lots of accompanying damage. It was just a straight-up ACL tear.

zn wrote:

bnw wrote:

AP, ML,FT, JL. I wonder if any of them started their NFL with as serious an injury as an ACL? I wonder if any of them were projected as part time RBs?

McCutcheon did. And he’s on the Rams personnel staff. Moreover, ACLs are not AS serious as they were back then—they have since developed more effective surgical and rehab procedures. On top of which, Gurley’s ACL was very “clean”–it did not come, as most of these do, with lots of accompanying damage. It was just a straight-up ACL tear.

Again it doesn’t have to be an ACL. As serious an injury as an ACL. Any of those four enter the league as injured as Gurley? The Rams have such great need other places and RB wasn’t one. An injured one at that. Great expectations for TA which haven’t materialized is this deja vu? Is this what our draft board does for the offense? Will this extend the Rams streak of 11 years since a first round pick on offense has been worth it? This pick makes my stomach churn.

Zooey wrote:

bnw wrote:

Again it doesn’t have to be an ACL. As serious an injury as an ACL. Any of those four enter the league as injured as Gurley? The Rams have such great need other places and RB wasn’t one. An injured one at that. Great expectations for TA which haven’t materialized is this deja vu? Is this what our draft board does for the offense? Will this extend the Rams streak of 11 years since a first round pick on offense has been worth it? This pick makes my stomach churn.

Whom would you have taken? Waynes? Peat? Parker?

I do not follow the draft unless our first pick is very early as to be reasonably predicted like Bradford first overall or Long at 2nd overall. RB was not an area of need. O-line immediately comes to mind.

jamal lewis tore his right lateral collateral ligament in college. i don’t believe it required surgery. other ligaments are able to heal on their own. he then tore his acl his second year in the pros. but yes. lewis tore a ligament before getting drafted. not the dreaded acl tear. but it was a ligament tear.

let’s also be clear. despite advances in surgery, athletes with an acl tear are at significant risk for re-tear in the first year compared to athletes who haven’t torn their acl. that much is clear.

there are also significant long-term consequences of tearing your acl. fortunately for fans, these usually don’t surface until well after their playing career. although unfortunate for them.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by InvaderRam.

bnw wrote:

Zooey wrote:

bnw wrote:

Again it doesn’t have to be an ACL. As serious an injury as an ACL. Any of those four enter the league as injured as Gurley? The Rams have such great need other places and RB wasn’t one. An injured one at that. Great expectations for TA which haven’t materialized is this deja vu? Is this what our draft board does for the offense? Will this extend the Rams streak of 11 years since a first round pick on offense has been worth it? This pick makes my stomach churn.

Whom would you have taken? Waynes? Peat? Parker?

I do not follow the draft unless our first pick is very early as to be reasonably predicted like Bradford first overall or Long at 2nd overall. RB was not an area of need. O-line immediately comes to mind.

Well, the next OL taken was Peat. And a lot of guys on this board don’t like Peat.

I don’t know, cuz I don’t watch college ball, and don’t watch film.

But my position is that criticizing the pick of Gurley is pointless if you don’t have a better idea.

I didn’t have Gurley on my radar AT ALL. He never occurred to me. But the only guys I liked the look of were already gone by the time the Rams picked.

So when they took Gurley, I looked around and saw nobody I could make a case for as a better choice. And the pick warmed on me.

Zooey wrote:

bnw wrote:

Zooey wrote:

bnw wrote:

Again it doesn’t have to be an ACL. As serious an injury as an ACL. Any of those four enter the league as injured as Gurley? The Rams have such great need other places and RB wasn’t one. An injured one at that. Great expectations for TA which haven’t materialized is this deja vu? Is this what our draft board does for the offense? Will this extend the Rams streak of 11 years since a first round pick on offense has been worth it? This pick makes my stomach churn.

Whom would you have taken? Waynes? Peat? Parker?

I do not follow the draft unless our first pick is very early as to be reasonably predicted like Bradford first overall or Long at 2nd overall. RB was not an area of need. O-line immediately comes to mind.

Well, the next OL taken was Peat. And a lot of guys on this board don’t like Peat.

I don’t know, cuz I don’t watch college ball, and don’t watch film.

But my position is that criticizing the pick of Gurley is pointless if you don’t have a better idea.

I didn’t have Gurley on my radar AT ALL. He never occurred to me. But the only guys I liked the look of were already gone by the time the Rams picked.

So when they took Gurley, I looked around and saw nobody I could make a case for as a better choice. And the pick warmed on me.

Then we must agree to disagree. Rams had the 10th pick overall. You think other teams found O-line help after the Gurley pick? I do.

Agamemnon wrote:

<span class=”d4pbbc-font-color” style=”color: blue”>The next guy on my list was Cameron Erving, but I am fine with Fisher taking Gurley. He would have been one of my 3 blue chip players, except for the ACL. If the Rams are satisfied that the ACL is worth the gamble, I am fine with that. The reward versus risk seems acceptable. imo</span>

yeah erving was my guy too. we think alike!