[ramsman34]

That’s what I noticed before reading the rest of the thread - just not fast or sudden. Does have good vision and short area lateral movement. No real long speed. Couldn’t really run away from close defenders. But that’s ok. All he needs is a step or two and he will be hard to catch most of the time. Seems like he has decent power.

[/zn/]

Seems like he has decent power.

One thing Akers, Henderson, and Jones all have in common is really good contact balance. No big revelation, just putting it down in black and white, but, Henderson for example will often head into defenders so if he's tackled he gets some yards falling forward. He's elusive enough if he has room to find lanes but in tighter quarters he just plows into guys. It's not so much power per se (he doesn;t blast opponents) but using momentum and balance to get positive yards in tight situations. You can see that all throughout his highlights vid.

[/zn/]

I don't even like saying this. But Gurley makes a lot of sense if they're gonna sign a vet. He's missed two games in the last two years. Scored 23 total touchdowns. He does have a knack for the endzone when they get close. He knows the offense. He's pretty good in pass protection. But he's nowhere near the explosive player he used to be. Averages only about 3 and a half yards per carry.

It's true that Gurley was always productive in the redzone.

But...in terms of him being productive overall? He had an arthritic knee that was acting up in 2018 and (as one would obviously expect) it has not gotten better since. Hence the 3 yards a carry.

Plus in terms of the Rams signing him, he burned a lot of bridges on the way out, it seems. I think he was an issue in the locker room toward the end.

Not putting the guy down. Things like an arthritic knee happen to players. You can't fault them. In terms of his locker room stuff, he just seems like a proud and high strung guy who didn't like how fate dealt with him. That's not a rare thing in human beings. I still respect how good he was in his prime years.

.

[AvengerRam]

Todd Gurley was like a delicious appetizer at an expensive restaurant.

Fantastic for a few moments, maybe a bit overpriced, gone too soon.

(Stay tuned for my next post, when I analogize a "RB by committee" system to Spanish tapas!)

[Elvis]

I doubt there's bad blood that couldn't be overcome but i also doubt Gurley adds much value.

There are 31 other teams in the NFL that also haven't shown much interest in him...

[ramsman34]

No to TG. And I love the dude. But, we need a vet who can actually thrive if called upon in a lead back role. TG can’t do that anymore. He can’t really run the wide zone and we don’t run a lot of power.

If, gulp, Hendo goes down - we need a lead back. A younger vet would be my call.

[max]

I’ll be shocked if they don’t add a vet RB this season.

I expect that many of us realize what a brutal blow it was to lose Akers, in more ways than one.

The Rams are saying all the right things about Henderson, but he doesn’t inspire much confidence that he’ll be there for a full season. He’s only carried the ball more than 15 times in a game once in his career.

IMO, we lost a young emerging star player in Akers who energized the entire offense, especially the OL guys. They love him.

Now we can carry on with the diversionary inane Stafford posts here.

[AvengerRam]

In his final year of college, Henderson played all 13 games and ran the ball 214 times (16.4/game). He had 5 games with 20+ carries, including a 31 carry, 199 yard performance against UCF.

If he can hold up with similar usage this year, I think we'll be okay.

[/zn/]

The going bet for a guy to come through is Jones. They need 2 backs even if the carries are not evenly distributed.

My own hunch right now is that Jones can do it. I don't expect an exceptional run game (I did with Akers) but it looks like it will be a solid one.

[Indrid Cold]

I don't want to go the retread route for a guy with no juice left.

I'd be calling teams that have strong No. 2 guys that really aren't competing for the No. 1 spot, but would here. A couple of guys that have produced strong seasons recently in that position that come to mind are James Robinson in Jacksonville and Kenyan Drake in Vegas. (And yeah I know he just signed there...which I thought was foolish to be Josh Jacobs caddy ).