Rams rookie is already the best running back in the NFL, less than one year after a devastating knee injury
.jp2)
When the Rams drafted Georgia running back Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick in last year's NFL Draft, it set off a familiar wave of reactions around the league, namely that a team should never use a top-10 pick on a running back, especially one who was still recovering from a knee injury that ended his college career.
Gurley tore his ACL in a game for Georgia and wasn't even cleared to practice with the Rams until the end of August.
But eight weeks and four starts into the NFL season, Gurley has not only disproved the narrative, he has also become the best running back in all of football.
Yesterday against a porous San Francisco 49ers defense, Gurley rushed for 133 yards to push his streak of 100-plus yard games to 4 - or every one in which he's started. Through these four starts, Gurley has logged more yards than any rookie back in the Super Bowl era. His 566 yards surpassed Billy Simms' tally of 539 yards in 1980.
Gurley's numbers have been boosted by a handful of big plays, many of which have sparked an occasionally listless Rams offense. Against Cleveland, he picked up 48 yards on one run, burst free for a 52-yard gain against Arizona and 55 against Green Bay. Yesterday, he shot right through the Niners and galloped home 71 yards for the touchdown.
So is it too premature to call Gurley the best running back in football? At the very least he presents a convincing argument. The Falcons' running back Devonta Freeman has enjoyed a breakout year and is averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Peterson is averaging 4.5 yards per carry and has looked very strong for the Vikings this year. Gurley, for comparison, is averaging 6.1 yards per carry despite the fact that against the Steelers in Week 3 he didn't start and ran for just 9 yards on 6 carries.
Led by Gurley and a young and excellent defense, the Rams look like a legitimate playoff team and a serious threat in years to come. Gurley is only 21-years-old and less than a year removed from an ACL surgery, and already he's unquestionably the favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year. If he keeps playing this well, he might just become an MVP contender, too.