This is in the wake of his Tampa game, where he had modest yardage but showed many of his strengths. I is just one guy so I don’t see everything obviously but this is part of an effort to “paint” the Gurley “picture.”
GURLEY HIT IN THE BACKFIELD
Gurley can’t do much with a crowded backfield. And of course there are backs who can, like Martin or Lynch. And btw this is not criticism, it’s just description. For example Gurley doesn’t break tackles in the way a Lynch or any traditional power back does. He doesn’t run over or through people. He is strong, and has great contact balance, but if you get him in the backfield, he can’t do much.
Gurley and Jackson are very different, but, they do share this trait— in the backfield, there’s usually not much they can do against a penetrating defense. A Lynch can power over people, a Martin can break tackles on the move, but Gurley and Jackson can’t do those things, at least not as a consistent part of their game.
HOWEVER as I said that’s not a criticism of Gurley. If Gurley can see a micro lane and shift the angle of the defender (I actually mean that the way I said it!) he will do it. So on some runs he was nearly stopped in the backfield but found a way. But you can’t count on that the way you can with Lynch—Gurley is strong, but he doesn’t have the mauler’s strength Lynch does. Gurley can drag guys forward but he is not going to consistently run over them Lynch-style.
He’s a great back but while Lynch could (and DID) thrive with a mediocre OL, to be optimal, Gurley needs the OL to be at least decent.
GURLEY V. TAMPA
I think there was just going to be a certain amount of stopping Gurley with the Tampa defense, but they had to commit to the run to do it (this is from 1st viewing, I don’t know what reviewing the game would tell us.)
The entire point comes down to opposing defenses not worrying about the Rams pass, or as is commonly said, they load the run and dare the Rams to pass. If the Rams continue to pass effectively, defenses will mix it up more, you would think.
It’s pretty clear the Rams OL is still too inexperienced and inconsistent to effectively battle loaded fronts more.
But that OL also shows signs of getting there.
Keenum on this very subject:
Tampa Bay does a great job stopping the run. They really do. They loaded the box. Traditionally, they’re a ‘Tampa Two’ team, playing two safeties high, but they looked down and brought another safety out of the box quite a bit.
NOSE FOR THE ENDZONE (though this is more from the Lions game)
Remember how Faulk used to smell the endzone and just find ways to get there.
Gurley has the same thing IMO.
Of course Faulk and Gurley are not the same animal.
BUT at the core, they both have/had the same instinct for the endzone. Something in their game goes UP when they have a shot.
GURLEY IS OFTEN SUBTLE
A lot of things that are special about Gurley are subtle, and have to do with his vision and ability to quickly shift lanes and turn tacklers into guys who glance off. That’s not a full description of him–but still, it’s a lot of what he is. He doesn’t have dramatic shifty elusiveness but he has a great way of reading the field and getting tacklers not to miss so much as to just glance off.
RAMS BACKS IN HISTORY
It’s true that Faulk had more in his arsenal. Not that that makes Gurley a Justin Watson or anything. Gurley is still a great back IMO, just not the same as Faulk.
Either way, I would rank Gurley below Dickerson and Faulk as a great Rams back, but not by a LOT, and just above Jackson—which is no criticism of Jackson.
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