I suppose I will have to concede defeat on Todd Gurley. He scored 9 TDs in his first nine games, so I think he’s outperformed where he was selected in drafts. At the same time, he’s been pretty dreadful.
Todd Gurley a few years back was one of the league’s elite backs, consistently creating yards on his own and making big plays. Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry – he was one of those guys.
Gurley is only 26 years old, but that’s clearly gone. The explosion, the power, the everything. In five of his last six games, he’s failed to average even 3 yards per carry. There have been reports over the last few years about his knees declining, and those seem to be accurate.
I remember Gurley running through a big hole for a touchdown of about 35 yards against Carolina and thinking he didn’t look quite right – he looked slow and ordinary. And that’s become more apparent as the season has progressed.
| GURLEY RUSHING, GAME-BY-GAME | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Sea. | L 25-38 | 14 | 56 | 4.0 | 1 |
| at Dall. | L 39-40 | 21 | 61 | •2.9 | 0 |
| Chi. | L 26-30 | 14 | 80 | 5.7 | 1 |
| at G.B. | L 16-30 | 16 | 57 | 3.6 | 2 |
| Car. | L 16-23 | 14 | 121 | 8.6 | 1 |
| at Min. | W 40-23 | 20 | 47 | •2.4 | 0 |
| Det. | L 22-23 | 23 | 63 | •2.7 | 2 |
| at Car. | W 25-17 | 18 | 46 | •2.6 | 1 |
| Den. | W 34-27 | 19 | 53 | •2.8 | 1 |
| at N.O. | L 9-24 | 8 | 26 | 3.3 | 0 |
| N.O. | L 16-21 | 8 | 16 | •2.0 | 0 |
Gurley also hasn’t been effective in the passing game. He’s caught 17 passes, but they’ve gone for only 86 yards. That’s 5.1 per catch.
I’m not blaming Gurley’s struggles on the team’s offensive line. Brian Hill and Ito Smith have been more effective, averaging 4.3 and 4.5 yards per attempt. Smith has been their best back recently, carrying 20 times for 101 yards and a touchdown in their last two games.
I expect to see more of a committee approach in the remaining games. The Falcons get a struggling Chargers defense this week, but I would not be eager to put Gurley in a lineup.
Gurley in the offseason signed a one-year deal. The Falcons, I’m very sure, will have no interest in bringing him back, and I doubt that any other team will sign him either. With Gurley already having made a nice chunk of change, I would think at this point that he’ll be transitioning to his life after football.
—Ian Allan