Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley: Through Land and Air

Zero drops, 26 targets leading to 21 receptions for 188 yards. Let’s break that down a little more shall we? The ball was caught 80.8% of the time for an average of 9 yards per catch. Now I am no math magician but I’m pretty sure those numbers are quite impressive.

Those are the receiving stats of Todd Gurley from the 2015 season. Last season, Gurley’s highest number of targets topped out at 5. This occurred twice over the span of 13 games. Gurley had a total of 3 games where he was not targeted at all last season. Let’s recap for a second, zero drops, caught the ball 80.8% of the time, and averaged 9 yards per catch, yet he was only targeted 26 times which averages out to twice per game. Now I am no professional head coach, but with a guy who has zero drops and is averaging close to a first down per catch, I’d like to say that he is quite valuable as a receiver.

Let’s bring ourselves back to the present, back to 2016. We have established the fact that Gurley is more than capable of catching passes. Those being paid the big bucks have started to catch on to this as well, no pun intended. Thankfully, Gurley has been receiving more targets; 16 targets over 5 games to be exact. Utilizing Gurley in every way possible is a key component to offensive success.

It is no secret that the Rams struggle on offense, they rank near the bottom in nearly every offensive category. The Rams are particularly weak through the air. With this being known throughout the league, defenses have stacked the box against Gurley leading to a sluggish start to Gurley’s rushing attack. To combat this, the Rams need to continue to use Gurley as a pass catcher. Short, quick receptions that allow Gurley to make moves and break tackles in the open field can lead to great offensive production. Gurley needs to be involved early and often in order to ignite his true potential. When trying to pound the ball between the tackles becomes predictable and unsuccessful, the Rams need to feed Gurley through the air. He has proven himself more than capable of catching the ball. Gurley possesses the ability to not only accelerate quickly while making defenders miss, but can run through defenders as well.

Gurley’s longest catch of the season so far went for 33 yards against the Cardinals. In the game against Buffalo, Gurley broke off a 24-yard reception. The explosiveness and big play capability is something that will not only spark the Ram’s offense, but Gurley as well. One of the mottos for the season has been feed Gurley. So why just feed Gurley on the ground? Why not feed Gurley through the air as well? Let’s face the facts here, Gurley is the MVP of the offense. So why not incorporate him into as many plays as possible. Gurley is a workhorse and should be treated as such.

Let’s travel back in time again, how about to the beginning of the millennium. For those of you who were fans of the St. Louis Rams, you know the year 2000 was the year the Greatest Show on Turf took home the Lombardi Trophy. Why am I bringing this up? Besides the fact that I love reminiscing and reflecting on the glory days of Kurt Warner, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Adam Archuleta, Leonard Little, okay I digress sorry.

The main reason I bring up the high powered offense that once oohed and aahed us is because of Marshall Faulk and his role in the offense. While with St. Louis, Faulk reeled in 470 receptions. Faulk’s highest number of receptions was 87 and his lowest was 44. With stats like that, one can easily tell that Faulk played a major role in the passing offense. Now how does this figure into today’s day and age? The Rams had success back then, yes their team was obviously more talented, but comparing Gurley to Faulk…

I can see similarities. Maybe it is too early to tell, and maybe it’s a stretch to mention these two in the same sentence, but why not FEED GURLEY. Throwing the ball to Faulk out of the backfield worked before, why can’t throwing the ball to Gurley work now? The targets for Gurley need to continue to rise. The more opportunities to get Gurley going and in his groove the better.

Let’s throw out another reason to get Gurley involved in the passing game. Los Angeles’ offensive line is nothing to brag about. Case Keenum is no pro bowler either. So why not try to make things easier on everybody. Quicken the play process, swing Gurley out of the backfield and let Keenum release the ball quickly. Rely on more blocking from the receivers rather than a lack luster O-line. The bottom line here is the Rams’ offense needs work. Improvements need to be made and changes need to take place.

A good starting point would be to up the target total for your offensive star. Target Gurley early and often with short quick passes that allow him to get into open field and work his magic. Gurley is more than capable of catching passes and has proven himself effective at making guys miss or just straight running through them, yes I’ve repeated this statement over and over again, but hey, it’s true. Give Gurley the ball on land and through the air. Open up the arsenal. Get creative. Introduce some variety. Keep the defense guessing. Change up the tempo. Short quick sentences help prove my point, or at least I hope they do. Anyways, the defense will keep the Rams in games, it is up to the offense to control the ball and do enough to win the games.

Since we’re talking offense, I am going to wrap up this article with a small rant. 4^th and 5 at LA’s 23-yard line, the score is 23-19 Bills. The clock reads 3:47. LA’s defense has held the Bills to 17 pts, since we’re not including the six points handed to the Bills thanks to Keenum’s pick six. LA has all three of their timeouts and the two-minute warning, which means the clock will stop 4 times during the Bills’ next possession.

WHY DID THE RAMS GO FOR IT?? Punt the ball away and let the defense go to work. Make the Bills get a first down or two. Instead the Rams don’t get the first, giving the Bills the ball at the LA 25-yard line. Now, a chip shot field goal would put the Bills up by 7, meaning the Rams can only tie the game. Not to mention, the Bills are only 25 yards away from a touchdown and the game. Well of course a touchdown is exactly what they got. WHY GO FOR IT??? I’m no head coach, but I am going to go ahead and say it, that was a dumb decision. Sorry Jeff, that is another tally in the fire Fisher category. End of rant, end of article.