One of the more surprising moves made by the Los Angeles Rams thus far was the decision to part ways with running backs coach Skip Peete. He was one of the few holdovers from Jeff Fisher’s regime, and someone Todd Gurley pushed for the Rams to keep in 2017 when Sean McVay took over.
With Peete out, though, the Rams have begun looking at replacements. According to Jane Slater of NFL Media, the Rams have contacted Texas running backs coach Stan Drayton about the vacancy.
Los Angeles is also competing with the Cowboys and Longhorns, who both want the coach on their staff, too.
Aside from reports Texas wants him back on staff, a source tells me the #Rams have also reached out to Drayton. https://t.co/7tIJwHt7Rx
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) January 9, 2020
Drayton doesn’t have much NFL experience, having coached for the Bears from 2015-2016, as well as the Packers from 2001-2003. However, Ezekiel Elliott had him as his running backs coach at Ohio State and said recently that Drayton “made me into a great player.”
That’s high praise from an All-Pro running back, who’s led the league in rushing twice in four seasons. The Rams have Todd Gurley in the backfield, but he was underutilized in 2019 – which wasn’t the fault of Peete.
If Drayton could come in and recapture some of the magic from Gurley’s 2017 and 2018 seasons despite his workload being limited, it’d be a huge win for the Rams.