lots of Gurley attention in the media

gurley with a full offseason to work on just football…

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/26556/todd-gurley-takes-aim-at-offensive-rookie-of-the-year-award

Todd Gurley takes aim at Offensive Rookie of Year award
By Nick Wagoner

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Rams running back Todd Gurley didn’t get to enjoy a full rookie season as he recovered from a torn left ACL. But he made the most of his 13 games, leading all rookies in rushing yards and finishing third in the NFL in that category.

Gurley will find out this weekend whether he’s earned a couple awards. Gurley is one of five nominees for the Pepsi Rookie of the Year award, and is also a top contender for the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Gurley said Friday that he covets both — the winners will be announced on Saturday — and particularly likes the idea of beating out Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper.

“Oh man, it would just be cool to take home this award,” Gurley said. “Definitely knowing how hard I worked to get in this position. Plus, Jameis and Amari already got a national championship, so I need to get this award from them. I hope it can happen.”

Gurley certainly has the credentials to earn both. He already won the Pro Football Writers of America rookie of the year and the team’s version of the honor and is a leading contender to make it a clean sweep.

Gurley finished with 1,106 rushing yards in 2015, joining Eric Dickerson and Jerome Bettis as the only Rams rushers to reach 1,000 rushing yards in their debut seasons. He was also first among all rookies in yards from scrimmage (1,294), second in total touchdowns (10) and first in 100-yard games (five).

Along the way Gurley became the first rookie in NFL history to rush for 125 or more yards in four consecutive games. His 566 yards in his first four starts set an NFL record for the Super Bowl era, and he’s one of three rookies since 1970 to rush for 700 or more yards in his first six starts.

Gurley also earned a spot in the Pro Bowl, a trip he apparently enjoyed.

“Just being around Hall of Fame coaches, good players, my rookie year, my first time ever in Hawaii, it was good times,” Gurley said. “I had never been to Hawaii before. I’m happy about that. I’m going to keep mentioning Hawaii because I’ve never been to Hawaii before so I want people to know that I went.”

Gurley scored a touchdown in his Pro Bowl debut, a positive sign considering he missed the Rams’ season finale with a foot injury. Gurley said his foot is fine and he’s looking forward to a full offseason of workouts, something he didn’t have last year because he was recovering from the knee injury.

“I’m definitely looking forward to that because last year it was just all about my knee,” Gurley said. “I couldn’t do like extra workouts on my own because they had to keep an eye on it. I’m definitely looking forward to being able to do my own workouts and not having to be monitored by everybody.”

Gurley plans to get set up in Los Angeles soon and spend his offseason training at the Exos Performance Center. As for what he hopes to improve on this offseason?

“Everything,” Gurley said. “I want to work on my balance, I feel like I can improve a lot more on my blocking ability, coming out of the backfield, just doing a lot more stuff better without the ball.”