Rams RB Todd Gurley could shatter 2,000-yard mark — and more
IRVINE, Calif. — Mention a certain name, and Todd Gurley’s face lights up.
“Eric Dickerson is always going to be the best Rams running back ever — regardless,” Gurley told Paste BN Sports this week. “He was a beast, man.”
Gurley, the splendid back of the present, left a lingering impression from a relaxed, 15-minute lunchtime chat in the middle of the scenic University of California, Irvine campus where the Los Angeles Rams have set up training camp.
The kid knows his history. Born in 1994, he is too young to have seen Dickerson in live action. But he has seen the highlights of the greats at his position, including Dickerson, Walter Payton and Gale Sayers.
And he knows the numbers.
Dickerson became the second player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season and set the NFL record by rushing for 2,105 yards in 1984. It is not lost on Gurley, the NFL’s reigning offensive rookie of the year, that Dickerson hit his biggest number in just his second year in the league.
“Crazy,” Gurley said. “I don’t know how he did it.”
As Gurley enters Year 2, it is not far-fetched to think that he, too, could join the 2,000-yard club that now contains seven members. The Rams, who at some point figure to play No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, could use more dominant rushing performances to aid the rookie quarterback.
While he’s at it, perhaps Gurley can also legitimately chase the Dickerson record that has stood for 32 years.
He is that special. Last season, when he missed the first two games and didn’t start until Week 4 while coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, he made his own type of history by becoming the first player to rush for at least 125 yards in his first four starts.
Now, after an 1,106-yard debut, comes the encore … and enormous expectations.
Does he think about 2,000 yards?
“Sometimes,” Gurley said. “I know it’s hard. I don’t really think about it, but I know my teammates harp on it. I just go out and play my game.”
That game is seemingly destined to play well in a market driven by star power. At 6-1, 227 pounds, Gurley is naturally powerful and can pound as an insider runner in the trenches. Yet his explosiveness is what really sells, much like it did for Dickerson, who was 6-3 and 220 pounds. Gurley can just as well sting a defense by ripping off a run around the corner.
Gurley doesn’t dare declare that 2,000 would be a mission but allows that with good health — not only for himself, but for his offensive line, too, he said — it’s possible.
“I don’t do goals,” he said. “But if I don’t do better than last year, I’m not progressing.”
A year ago, Gurley was in rehab during training camp, rallying from reconstructive knee surgery he underwent in November 2014 while still at Georgia. The comeback trail not only provided the physical markers but strengthened him mentally, too, he said, because he conquered the grind of rehab and added a layer of confidence in returning to form.
He could be even better now.
Historically, players are better in their second season after tearing an ACL than they are in their first. In Gurley’s case, just being in training camp makes a difference when considering how he had to play catch-up last season in flowing with his timing, footwork and communication.
It didn’t take long last year for Gurley to get up to speed. But imagine if the oft-repeated theory of a player making his biggest jump between Year 1 and Year 2 applies to him.
“I hope it’s true,” Gurley said. “It would be cool. Obviously, people have film from your first year and they’re studying you. The main thing is go out and do it again.”
After all, history is calling.
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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell
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