Todd Gurley has become everything we hoped he would be

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley has become everything we hoped he would be, and then some. We take a look into the past….

Todd Gurley was once one of the most coveted college prospects in the entire country.

As a freshman at Georgia, Gurley exploded onto the scene with 1,385 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. Over the course of the next two seasons at Georgia, Gurley would be limited in on-field production because of injury and suspension by the NCAA.

Despite all of that, it was abundantly clear that Gurley was bred specifically for the NFL, the ideal combination of size, speed, vision, power, and pass catching ability.

More than three years ago, I wrote about Gurley as a prospect, and why I felt he was a lock for the top 10 picks despite a recent trend of backs not going in the first round at all at the time.

I obviously wasn’t the only one who was high on Gurley, but it feels great to see a player turn out to be, well, exactly what you thought they would be. Here’s what I wrote about Gurley in August of 2014:

"If this were baseball, I feel like Gurley would be a ‘five-tool’ player.He’s big, fast, quick, strong, powerful, not afraid of contact, and he’s a good receiver, but we’ll get more into that as we progress.Initially, I’m really impressed by Gurley’s size overall. He’s 6’1″ 232 pounds and he carries it really well. He’s got the size of an NFL-ready back, one who could take a lot of hits and carry a full load.Gurley is the perfect running back in terms of his overall skillset. He’s got great vision with the football, balance, and power. His lower body strength is far advanced for being just a junior this season, and he’s able to drive piles as well as bounce off of arm tackles with relative ease.Not only does he have the power, but Gurley has speed as well. He’s not Dri Archer or Chris Johnson, by any means, but he’s a load to take down in the open field and can turn the corner if the opportunity is presented.NFL Mocks, August 2014"

All of those skills were on display this Sunday, in a game that will be remembered as a changing of the guard in the NFC West, as the Rams literally ran all over the Seattle Seahawks on the Seahawks’ home field.

Todd Gurley is GONE!
Rams up 34-0 in Seattle... https://t.co/UPCSwtiRog
— LeadingNFL (@LeadingNFL) December 17, 2017

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Gurley specifically showed his entire skill set in this game, running with great power, patience, speed (on the play above, wow…), and catching the football. He had 152 rushing yards, three touchdowns, three receptions for 28 yards, and another touchdown through the air.

Over the past two games against Philadelphia and Seattle, Gurley has rushed for a total of 248 yards (7.3 average), five touchdowns, and has caught six passes with another touchdown.

Those are big time numbers for a guy that should be getting legitimate MVP consideration, now that he has a whopping 17 total touchdowns on the league’s most explosive (I still can’t believe I’m saying that) offensive group.

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