wow. havenstein looks like a slimmed down 320 lbs. not as sloppy as i thought he’d look.

yeah it’d be cool if jackson took on a mentor role like stephen davis did for him.

i don’t think he is as strong as lynch, but i would guess he has better short area quickness. i also believe he has better explosion than him. and while he is not as elusive as faulk. my guess is he has better power than him.

the one thing we don’t know is how that knee is going to heal. the doctors inspected it closely and came away encouraged. but. who knows? maybe it snaps next season, and he’s back on the table and under the knife again…

look. i don’t think he’ll ever be as good as faulk. that man’s talent was transcendent. as is peterson’s. those are special special athletes.

but do i think he can be as good as lynch or gore or jackson? yeah. i think those are realistic expectations. is that worth the number 10 pick? in this draft, i think it was. in other drafts. maybe not.

i would include austin in it. and i would rank it.

britt
bailey
quick
austin

britt is still the most consistent receiver in this unit, although i think bailey could easily jump to the top spot this year.

quick. depends on how he comes back from the injury. he could possibly overtake britt as well.

i think a healthy gurley could potentially be the most complete back under a fisher coached team.

eddie george had the power. but he didn’t have the explosion.

chris johnson had the explosion. but he didn’t have the strength that george possessed.

steven jackson had power and explosion, but by the time fisher came, he was a shell of his former self.

i believe gurley will eventually have both those traits. maybe less power than eddie or steven. and less explosion than johnson. but he’ll have a good mix of the too. plus he can catch the ball, and he seems to have the requisite attitude to become a good blocker. eventually.

of course if his knee never heals, this will all be moot.

i also read about how some people feel he should be the workhorse. i don’t agree. i think he will be most effective with 250 carries. add in 40-50 receptions. and i think you get maximum effectiveness out of him. meaning you’ll get the most amount of explosive plays off him without subjecting him to unnecessary wear and tear. any more carries and i believe you get diminishing returns. mason should get the other 150 carries. and he should be effective. also giving the rams explosive plays. those two combined will be more effective than gurley handling the workload by himself.

i don’t feel that’s anything special.

i’m more interested in him catching passes on the field. third year. i wanna see 70 catches 900 yards.

also need to see if bailey and austin can make some strides. does greg robinson make strides. can brian quick come back healthy.

so many things need to happen… but the potential is there. i don’t think it was before.

great post isiah. and might i add.

gurley is not just a potentially special player. he’s a potentially special player who fits fisher’s vision. his style of football.

his offenses have been defined by the likes of eddie george, chris johnson, and to a lesser extent steven jackson. dare i say. gurley might bring elements of all three of those running backs to the table.

i’m dreaming of gurley in the backfield.

yeah. at this point a lot of it is about development. that’s the best way they can catch up to seattle, san francisco, and arizona besides adding more talent. a lot of young players who aren’t close to reaching their potential.

contrast that to seattle and san francisco who seem to have reached a peak. not sure about arizona.

yeah, they talk a lot about the little things that gurley does. how he varies the frequency of steps when a defender comes. they talk about his receiving skills. they talk about his flexibility when running in traffic. good stuff.

and he seems to run with good pad level when he has to.

the one question waldman has is how gurley will do when those running lanes will inevitably be tighter in the pros. he had some pretty wide open creases in college. but he seems pretty sold on him.

zn wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

after all this offense is going to be built around the running game.

Ah but.

To me, running game or not, if the qb ain’t clutch, you don;t get that much.

The classic Oakland Raiders were a running team too, but, Kenny “The Carnivorous Reptile of the Suborder Serpentes” Stabler was clutch, and that was all the difference.

Me? I keep whoever is clutch. Even if he’s a klutz for the other 3 1/2 quarters.

..

that sounds good. but my point still holds. the rams weren’t likely to know the answer to that question with a guy like hundley by the end of this season. they’ll likely have a better idea with a guy like mannion who played in a pro-style system.

InvaderRam wrote:

just want to add one more thing. people talk about how gurley is a once in a decade type running back…

well. gurley had a teammate at georgia – freshman running back nick chubb.

some were whispering last year that he might be BETTER than gurley.

so… take that for what it’s worth. he put up some mighty impressive numbers behind the same line. early heisman candidate.

What do you (and others too) like about Gurley? I have my own opinions (I liked the pick instantly)…it’s just fun to hear.

..

i’ll leave film analysis to mack and others. mine is more of a cheerleader type response.

i always go back to steven jackson. he was the unquestioned talisman for the offense. he set a physical tone from the start. he was going to punish the defense. he was going to get up and he was going to do it again. he was relentless. but more than that he was also an explosive playmaker at his prime. he could bust long runs. he didn’t just grind out the tough yards. he made plays that could change the game in an instant.

even in his last year here. even when he was a shell of his former self. we all saw it. we saw that physicality. even if he could no longer produce the explosive plays. he provided that physicality.

but more than that. he was versatile. he was a very good receiver of the ball. he could go inside. he could go outside. there were so many ways steven could attack you. and an underrated skill of his was pass pro. he did the dirty work to help out his teammates. he realized the importance of giving up yourself for the team.

that’s what i believe gurley will bring to the table. he’s got it all. he can run inside. he can run outside. he can break a defenses will by churning out first downs. but equally by taking it to the house. his receiving skills are said to be top notch. he’s got big soft hands. he can run routes. he’s great after the catch.

and like mack said, i was pleased to hear him say pass protection was the first thing he needed to work on as a professional. he knows he can run. he knows he can catch. but he also recognizes that the nfl is a different game. it’s a passing league. and he needs to do his part to keep his qb clean.

he also protects the ball. everyone should watch the waldman piece on gurley. one of the first things he harps on is gurley’s fundamentals. how he holds the ball high and tight. the one thing that worries me about mason is his tendency to fumble the football. not with gurley. he’s got 10″ mitts. he takes care of the ball. he pays attention to the small things.

again. fixing the offensive line was important. not trying to minimize that. but maybe more important than that was establishing an identity. they not only got a blue chip playmaker. they established an identity for this offense in much the same way jackson did when he was here.