Many doubt that former UGA great Todd Gurley will be able to regain his peak form again with the Atlanta Falcons, but then again, he may have a career year if he stays healthy.
Since that fateful evening at Sanford Stadium on November 15, 2014, against Auburn — when Todd Gurley went down with a torn ACL late in the fourth quarter — his “can’t miss” projections changed into constant question marks surrounding the knee.
That hasn’t changed with his move to the from the Los Angeles Rams to the Atlanta Falcons.
Todd Gurley was one of the greatest running backs in UGA history (file under, “duh!”) and he’s gone on to a pretty successful NFL career. But due to the lingering knee issues, the “experts” seem to think he’s had his last good season as a pro, including his former team who let him walk all the way back to Georgia and the Falcons.
To be certain, Gurley’s supposedly arthritic knee is a concern. But that doesn’t mean he’s done. Anyone who has been around or even simply watched Todd Gurley knows that his resolve is greater than a lingering knee problem.
Can Todd Gurley regain his top form with the Falcons?
While at Georgia, the only two things that really ever stopped Todd Gurley were an NCAA suspension in 2013 and a torn ACL in 2014. Beyond that, Gurley trampled and hurdled his way into college football lore as a Georgia icon with every “that’s gonna be on SportsCenter” moment he produced – and there were a lot of them.
The Rams were willing to take a shot with Gurley simply based on his highlights and incredible production when he was on the field as a Bulldog. They were rewarded with a player who eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark three of his five seasons with the team, and who led the league in rushing touchdowns twice, and total yards from scrimmage once.
In short, he was the Rams offense more often than not.
He also didn’t fit the mold of what Rams head coach Sean McVay wanted to do with his offense. As the Rams moved more and more towards the innovative, supposedly less-conventional offense McVay wanted to employ it seemed Gurley’s production began to suffer.
Did some of that dropoff have to do with his knee? Probably so. But he was also, simply put, overworked by the Rams. Between 2017-2018, Gurley had 658 combined touches rushing and receiving the ball. No NFL player had more touches during that two-year span (Ezekiel Elliott was second, with 649 touches).
The combination of offensive shift, overuse, and some sort of lingering problem with the surgically repaired knee led to a statistical falloff for Gurley, but that doesn’t mean he’s done by any stretch.
For a man who is driven to succeed the way Todd Gurley is, being released while still in the prime of his playing years has probably motivated him more than anything else, and the Falcons will be big beneficiaries of that motivation.
Gurley is rested, has been rehabbing his knee, and now has a chip on his shoulder the size of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He summed that up in an Instagram post from April 2, when he said, “Anger is energy”.
The Falcons are looking to recharge their running game, which had grown completely stale after the infamous Super Bowl meltdown against the New England Patriots, and Gurley is the perfect guy to help make that happen.
Had Atlanta drafted Gurley in 2015 rather than now-released outside linebacker Vic Beasley, that 28-3 lead over the Patriots may very well have held up. But, that’s a story for another time…
With Atlanta, Gurley is going to want the ball, and chances are that offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and quarterback Matt Ryan will be happy to oblige.
Barring a relapse of the bad knee or other injury issue, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gurley’s touches eclipse 320 or more again this season, and for him to once again become a huge threat out of the backfield catching passes. Koetter loves to use the screen game, and that happens to be one of the best parts of Gurley’s arsenal.
Prediction: All-Pro, personal record-breaking year for Todd Gurley, a return to the playoffs for the Falcons, and perhaps even some postseason redemption for Matt Ryan and head coach Dan Quinn.