Tag: Todd Gurley

Paying players early has not paid off for the Rams

The Rams don’t look very smart for signing Jared Goff and Todd Gurley when they did.

Les Snead is widely viewed as one of the better general managers in the NFL. Since joining the Rams, he’s helped turn the franchise around after years of ineptitude and sub-.500 play. He’s done so with an aggressive approach to roster building, opting to acquire proven players via trade rather than adding assets with first- and second-round picks.

It’s paid off with the Rams reaching the Super Bowl last season, but after hitting a rough patch in 2019, one aspect of the Rams’ aggressive philosophy warrants criticism.

Snead and the front office have been more than generous when it comes to paying players before necessary. It’s an approach teams across the NFL have taken, attempting to get ahead of the market by extending their top players before they can field offers from other teams in free agency.

On paper, it’s a smart way to build a roster and secure a team’s future. But for the Rams, they’ve made this mistake too many times.

Two of the most glaring examples happened just a few years ago. Before the 2016 season kicked off, the Rams signed Tavon Austin to a four-year, $42 million extension. He still had two years left on his contract, but the Rams wanted to reward him and his 1,133 career receiving yards with a lucrative new deal.

Austin was traded during the 2018 draft, barely contributing in his one season with Sean McVay at the helm.

They did the same thing one year later with Alec Ogletree, giving him a four-year extension worth $42.75 million. Ogletree was set to hit free agency the following year and was just an average linebacker for the Rams, but the front office saw him as a key piece on defense…

…for about five months.

Ogletree was traded the following March, leaving the Rams to take on $6.4 million in dead money in 2018.

The Rams didn’t learn from those mistakes and continued to hand out contract extensions before necessary in the last couple of years.

In 2018, they signed Todd Gurley to a $60 million extension despite him having two years left on his rookie deal. His new contract hasn’t even kicked in yet, and will run for four more years until 2023.

With the way he’s been used on offense, there’s no doubt signing him to such a massive contract was a mistake, based on the timing of it all. If the Rams had waited a year and evaluated him for another season, they almost certainly would not have given Gurley the deal they did.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but giving a running back with a significant knee injury in the past all that money two years early was almost destined to fail.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Then came Jared Goff’s deal, the granddaddy of them all. After a year of declaring that they were going to be patient with the young quarterback and would eventually give him a huge extension, the Rams faked everyone out and signed him to a contract with the most guaranteed money in NFL history. Goff’s deal is for four years and is worth $134 million with $110 million guaranteed. He will have the largest cap hit in the league in 2020.

Goff has done nothing this season to make the Rams look smart for once again doling out a monster contract two years before they had to; Goff was under contract through 2020 and never threatened to hold out publicly.

Los Angeles’ front office has come under heavy criticism for signing Goff when it did, especially after seeing him regress to near-2016 form with 11 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and 10 fumbles (five lost) in 11 games this season. And like Gurley, Goff’s contract extension hasn’t even gone on the books yet. It will in 2020 with a cap hit of $36 million.

In addition to those contracts, the Rams also made Rob Havenstein one of the highest-paid tackles in the league last year with a $32.5 million extension. Los Angeles looked smart for that contract after Havenstein improved in 2018, but he experienced a sharp decline in 2019.

Possibly the most surprising of all was the $29 million contract Tyler Higbee got from the Rams this year, despite Gerald Everett being on the roster. Higbee has never been a huge part of the passing game, and this season, he has just 26 catches for 212 yards and one touchdown. The Rams could have easily waited to sign Higbee, or simply let him walk in free agency next offseason and moved forward with Everett.

Brandin Cooks’ contract doesn’t look great right now, either, owning the fourth-highest cap hit on the team in 2020 at $16.8 million. Just with the four highest-paid players on the roster – Goff, Aaron Donald, Cooks and Gurley – the Rams have $95.1 million on the books next season.

They’re not in great shape cap-wise, and that’s before even mentioning the need to re-sign Jalen Ramsey next year, and likely Cooper Kupp, John Johnson and Everett the following year. Signing Gurley, Goff and Higbee when they did was questionable, and it doesn’t shine a very bright light on the front office.

4 takeaways from the Rams’ 45-6 loss to Baltimore

The Rams were embarrassed by Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on primetime. Here are four takeaways from the depressing outing.

The Los Angeles Rams were embarrassed on Monday Night Football by the Baltimore Ravens. It was complete opposite of last year’s barnburner on Monday Night Football against Kansas City. Here’s a few takeaways from the primetime debacle.

Rams’ defense nonexistent

It appears that something must have happened to the Rams over the past week that didn’t allow their defense to practice or come up with a game-plan to stop Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense. Maybe Wade Phillips just gave the team the week off. Any excuse as to why the Rams forgot to come up with a game-plan would be less embarrassing than if this was actually their game plan. 

The Ravens scored a touchdown every single time they touched the ball in the first half and Lamar Jackson completed all nine of his passes. The Rams were hopeless every time the defense touched the field.

Something also must have happened at halftime that caused the Rams to make any adjustments, because if they actually attempted to make any adjustments, they were meaningless. Baltimore scored a touchdown on their first two possessions of the second half before Lamar Jackson called it a night.

These games happen to everyone. Good teams get blown out. Bad teams get blown out. Mediocre teams get blown out. The Rams were decimated by Baltimore’s elite offense. It happens. But it certainly stings a little more when it’s on primetime and it drops your record to 6-5.

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Why do the Rams forget about RB Todd Gurley and other questions for Rams Wire in Week 12

The Baltimore Ravens get to prove themselves once again in front of a national audience, this time on “Monday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Rams. The Ravens have been playing great football but haven’t seen a defense as physically talented …

The Baltimore Ravens get to prove themselves once again in front of a national audience, this time on “Monday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Rams. The Ravens have been playing great football but haven’t seen a defense as physically talented as what the Rams have, making it a tough test for Week 12.

With so much change coming for Los Angeles, even during the season itself, I sat down with Cameron DaSilva to get the inside scoop on what the Rams have going for them right now. Take a look at the five questions this week, including why running back Todd Gurley seems to be an afterthought at times.

1) Jared Goff has not played well this season. Why has he struggled so much?

The offensive line has played a huge part in his struggles. He’s not getting much time in the pocket and has been hit 31 times – tied for the seventh-most in the league. As a result of the constant pressure he’s been under, he’s also struggled when given a clean pocket. It’s almost as if he’s expecting pressure, panicking and throwing the ball earlier than he needs to.

He was such a good play-action passer last season and the year before, but that hasn’t been the case this year. He has zero touchdown passes and five interceptions off of play-action after being one of the best play-action QBs in the NFL last season.

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How 11 great Georgia RBs performed in college and the NFL

Georgia football produces great running backs. A look at how 11 of the best did in college and the NFL.

Georgia has had more than its share of elite running backs and they went on to become high NFL Draft picks and had strong careers in the pros.

Sony Michel

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Sony  Michel was impressive enough for Bill Belichick to use a New England Patriots first-round pick on the RB. One of the most amazing nuggets in Georgia football history is Michel, Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley all were on the team in the same season, 2014. That year, Michel had 64 carries for 410 yards. He surged over the 1,000-yard mark as a sophomore and wound up with 3,631 yards on a 6.1 yard per carry average in four seasons. Michel is approaching the 1,500-yard mark as a pro.

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Todd Gurley could be in for bigger workload after Sunday’s performance

Sean McVay suggests Todd Gurley’s workload could grow after Sunday’s performance.

Prior to Sunday’s win over the Bears, Todd Gurley hadn’t gotten more than 20 touches in a single game this season. His workload was greatly reduced in the first 10 weeks of the year, limiting his production out of the backfield.

Bu Sean McVay finally let him loose against Chicago, giving him 28 total touches, including 25 carries. He turned those opportunities into 133 yards and one touchdown, helping lift the Rams to a 17-7 win at home.

Getting Gurley the ball was a concerted effort on McVay’s part, and he was repaid by the All-Pro back putting together arguably his best performance of the year.

“That was part of the game plan tonight and I thought he did a great job,” McVay said. “What I loved the most about what Todd did, is after we put the first carry on the ground, he didn’t flinch, he came back and had some good, tough, physical runs and made some good catches out of the backfield and he was a big-time contributor tonight.”

Gurley was running the ball well last week against the Steelers, picking up 73 yards on 12 carries, but he didn’t get a single touch in the fourth quarter and was barely on the field. McVay didn’t want to make that mistake again, so he fed the running back from start to finish.

“Like we talked about, I didn’t think I did a good enough job against the Steelers of kind of recognizing the way that he was running and you don’t want to make the same mistake twice,” he said.

So where does that leave the Rams offense heading into Week 12? There are still questions to be answered, specifically with the passing game. However, the balance they displayed offensively was encouraging, to say the least.

As a result of Sunday’s performance, Gurley could be in for a larger workload moving forward.

“I think so. That’s an ideal situation, but we’ll continue to look at this film and we’ll see how we want to put together our next game plan. Anytime you get Todd involved like that, it’s usually always a good thing for our offense.”

Keeping the Ravens offense off the field next week should be a priority, and one way to do that is by running the ball and controlling the clock. Don’t be surprised if Gurley gets another 20-plus carries against Baltimore on Monday.

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Rams showed a different side of their offense in win over Bears

The Rams went run-heavy on Sunday night, which is different than what we’ve seen all year.

From their very first play on offense, the Rams set out to prove they could win a game on the back of their rushing attack. Granted, Todd Gurley lost a fumble on Los Angeles’ first play from scrimmage, but Sean McVay didn’t abandon the run or put Gurley in the proverbial doghouse.

Instead, he called another 24 running plays for Gurley and five more for Malcolm Brown, too. In total, the Rams finished with 34 rushing attempts, 30 of which were by running backs. It was the second-most times they’ve handed the ball off to running backs all season, doing a great job to ride Gurley to victory.

Sean McVay said afterwards that it was all part of the game plan, giving the ball to Gurley as much as they did. And it truly showed a new side of the offense that we hadn’t yet seen this season. This was the second time all year the Rams had more rushes (34) than pass attempts (18), with the other game being almost an even split (30 rushes, 28 passes vs. New Orleans).

But the changes offensively go deeper than just running the ball more often. It all started with their personnel adjustment. The Rams utilized 12 personnel (one running back, two receivers, two tight ends) on 34 plays Sunday night, which is their most in a game all year. On those plays, Gurley rushed for 92 yards on 22 carries.

It was by far the Rams’ most effective personnel grouping when it came to running the ball.

What was really good to see was Sean McVay’s ability to adapt. Just hours before the game, the Rams found out that Robert Woods wouldn’t play as he tended to a family matter. For a team that’s so reliant on having three receivers on the field at a time, this was a big problem for the Rams.

Rather than simply replacing Woods with Mike Thomas or JoJo Natson in the starting lineup and continuing to roll with three receivers on the field at almost all times, McVay adapted. He had tight ends Tyler Higbee and Johnny Mundt out there together often, with a mix of Gerald Everett, too.

The Rams even used an I-formation with Mundt as a fullback, which isn’t something often seen in McVay’s offense. Higbee and Mundt were non-factors in the passing game as receivers – neither was targeted even once – but they were great as blockers and opened holes for Gurley.

Instead of relying on Jared Goff to sling the ball around the field as he often does, the Rams only had him throw the ball 18 times behind their new-look offensive line – his fewest in a game all year. The result was a low pressure rate and a safe game by Goff.

The question now is whether the Rams will continue to utilize this new run-first approach in the future. When Woods and Brandin Cooks return, expect to see them assume their usual roles on offense. Cooper Kupp should play the majority of the snaps, too.

But if the Rams truly want to run the ball more often, 12 personnel might be the answers – which will cost a wide receiver playing time.

Gurley says he ‘felt like the old Todd’ in best game of season vs. Bears

Sean McVay said it was part of the game plan to get Todd Gurley the ball on Sunday night.

Sean McVay hasn’t made it a point to feature Todd Gurley much on offense this season. Coming into Week 11, Gurley didn’t have a single game with at least 20 touches and only topped 100 total yards once (Week 1) this season.

That changed on Sunday night against the Bears.

McVay called Gurley’s number throughout the game, getting him a season-high 28 touches. He turned those opportunities into 97 yards rushing on 25 carries and 36 yards on three receptions, looking like his old self under the bright lights of the Coliseum.

After the game, he seemed pleased with his performance. He told reporters that he “felt good” and felt like his old self.

 

The Rams hadn’t seen that version of Gurley at all this season, but clearly he can still be an effective running back when given the chance. He had a long run of 13 yards and a 23-yard reception, showing the usual burst and cutting Rams fans have gotten used to seeing.

After the game, McVay evaluated Gurley’s performance and said getting him the ball was part of the game plan.

“That was part of the game plan tonight,” McVay said. “I thought he did a great job. What I loved the most about what Todd did was after we put the first carry on the ground, he didn’t flinch. He came back, had some good tough, physical runs, made some good catches out of the backfield and he was a big-time contributor tonight.”

About 10 minutes before kickoff, McVay told Gurley that the Rams were going to “pound the rock” and for him to get ready. Needless to say, he was.

As McVay mentioned, Gurley did fumble the ball on his first carry, but it was uphill from there. He never had another miscue and helped carry the offense to victory. It wasn’t the vintage 150-yard, two-touchdown performance we’ve seen in the past, but he was productive and looked like a workhorse again.

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5 takeaways from the Rams’ 17-7 victory against Chicago

The Los Angeles Rams snuck away with a crucial victory against the Bears on Sunday Night Football. Steve Rebeiro gives his takeaways.

(Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Rams snuck away with a 17-7 victory against the Bears in prime time on Sunday night.

It wasn’t pretty, but neither was last year’s Sunday Night Football showdown between these two teams. The Rams lost that one 15-6, but they escaped with a victory tonight.

Here are five takeaways from a win Los Angeles desperately needed against the Bears.

Rookies lead impressive offensive line performance

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The Rams’ offensive line has been an absolute dumpster fire this year. They went from one of the NFL’s best units last season to arguably the worst in the NFL this year. Last week, they lost two starters, including longtime starting tackle Rob Havenstein to injury. Fans were praying for Jared Goff’s health with a bunch of unproven backups protecting him against Khalil Mack and Chicago’s tough defense.

Oddly enough, the Rams offensive line turned in one of its best performances of the year with its back against the wall.

The big difference was switching from Havenstein, who has started 68 games for the Rams over the past five years, to rookie Bobby Evans, who played three snaps in his career. Evans and fellow rookie David Edwards gave both Todd Gurley and Goff all the protection they could ask for against the Bears. It resulted in a major victory for the Rams in prime time.

Sean McVay will have a decision to make when Havenstein comes back from injury. He’s been a weak link on the line this season, and Evans looked better tonight than Havenstein has all season. Evans should hold the job until he gives them a reason to bench him.

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Watch: Todd Gurley scores TD after Cooper Kupp gets lucky with fumble

Todd Gurley scored his 64th career touchdown Sunday.

Cooper Kupp was on the verge of going six straight quarters without catching a single pass, but he broke through in the second quarter for his first grab since Week 8. On a crucial third-and-6 – right after Kupp was called for a false start – Jared Goff hit him deep down the left side for a 50-yard gain.

It appeared Kupp got into the end zone for a touchdown, and it was ruled as so initially, but after review, the play was overturned.

It was ruled that Kupp fumbled it at the 1-yard line, just as he stepped out of bounds near the pylon. He’s fortunate the ball didn’t go another few inches to the right and through the end zone, which would’ve been a touchback.

After the Rams took over at the 1, Todd Gurley punched it in for the touchdown to give the Rams a 10-0 lead over the Bears

It was Gurley’s 64th career touchdown, which pushed him past Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Maurice Jones-Drew for the second-most ever before a player’s 26th birthday.

Todd Gurley reaches 5,000 career rushing yards, 6th Rams RB ever

Todd Gurley hit a milestone against the Bears.

Todd Gurley’s career got off to an outstanding start, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl in 2015 despite only starting 12 games. His production took a dip in 2016 under Jeff Fisher, but he got back on track in 2017 and 2018 with back-to-back All-Pro seasons.

As much as he’s struggled this season, he still reached 5,000 career rushing yards before turning 26. He did so on Sunday night against the Bears, becoming the sixth Rams player ever to reach that number.

The others are Steven Jackson (10,138 yards), Eric Dickerson (7,245), Marshall Faulk (6,959), Lawrence McCutcheon (6,186) and Dick Bass (5,417).

Gurley got off to a hot start against the Bears, rushing for 42 yards in the first quarter alone after fumbling it on his first carry.