(Courtesy Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
Name: Todd Gurley
College: University of Georgia
Height/Weight: 6’1” / 231 lbs.
S.U. Rank: 2
Potential NFL Teams: Jacksonville, Minnesota, Baltimore
The University of Georgia is known for producing powerful college football players and Todd Gurley is no exception to that rule. While at Georgia, Gurley produced like no other running back that has come through the Bulldogs’ football program.
Faced with a suspension for illegally collected money in return for his signature on various items, Gurley looks to put his twisted reputation behind him and move forward with an NFL franchise that gives him a solid chance at winning one or multiple Super Bowls.
While the Jaguars, Vikings, and Ravens look like the front runners to pick up Gurley, there’s always the chance he could be traded elsewhere after being drafted–all of this of course depends on what the other picks in the draft end up being.
Regardless, there is nothing but success awaiting him at the next level. Here are three reasons to believe that:
1. Explosive Excellence
Courtesy Reuters
One thing that Gurley does better than any other running back that I have seen is his ability to explode even if there’s no hole to jump through–he’ll make one.
Jumping through and occasionally over defenders is his specialty. The reason Jacksonville would be interested and likely to snag him from the draft is because ever since Maurice Jones-Drew departed for Oakland, the Jags have been lacking in the strength and running department.
Bringing Gurley on board in Jacksonville would team him up with a still-developing quarterback in Blake Bortles. This is good for the sheer fact that growing together and developing a strong sense of chemistry and communion is essential to being a good football team.
Just ask the Seahawks.
Taking his talents up against several teams ranging from Vanderbilt, Auburn, and even the high and mighty Alabama Crimson Tide, Gurley has shown that he’s not one to ever back down from a usually stifling defense.
(Courtesy XOSSports)
Jacksonville will need a player like him if they expect to anywhere besides the regular season, particularly with the already strong and impressive Colts and Texans along with a team trying to rebuild as they are in the Tennessee Titans stuck in their respective division.
So with that being said, if Gurley does end up with the Jaguars, the AFC South will be that much more interesting to pay attention to–even for just one more good player.
You also have to think that since the Titans begin their draft with the second overall pick, they’ll have another bright college star on their side of things.
This could mean a four-legged race to the finish in a division that has been nothing but lop-sided for quite some time–and there’s nothing football fans love more, let me tell you.
2. No More Leash
Courtesy CBS Sports
While his time at Georgia was well spent and worth watching, this past season had some bumps in the road it seemed for Todd Gurley. After starting the season off phenomenally, and mind you in such a manner that he was the front-runner to receive the Heisman Trophy, Gurley was suspended by the team for inappropriate conduct off the field.
At the end of October, Gurley was removed for four games by the Bulldogs and the NCAA–nearly a fourth of the season–for accepting $3,000 in payment for signed memorabilia spanning the course of the past two years.
As you can imagine, this completely derailed his Heisman hopes, and for some it even ruined his reputation as an honest student-athlete.
But he’s not ready to give up just yet.
From this perspective, the Baltimore Ravens would be the best fit for Gurley and here’s why.
Taking a brief step back, last season the Ravens ran into trouble of their own. The entire fiasco with Ray Rice and his domestic abuse situation was mis-handled by the NFL (to say the least) and fans–even some players–were not pleased with how everything was managed.
Entering afresh and anew in a winning environment that would be Baltimore, Gurley could put to the past the memory of Ray Rice that still feels like its lingering like a dark cloud over a great city–a winning city.
Three years removed from the Super Bowl–a win, might I add–the Ravens are back at it at hungrier than ever.
A few tweaks to Joe Flacco‘s game and some defensive re-enforcement would do the trick to get the Ravens back in the serious swing of things–especially after nearly knocking the New England Patriots out of the divisional round of the most recent NFL playoffs–but adding Gurley to the mix would make them the no questions asked favorites in the AFC North.
Hands down.
3. Fifty Shades Of Gurley
Courtesy Joshua S. Kelly / USA TODAY Sports
One last key factor to Gurley’s success in the NFL is his ability to escape for long runs–more specifically, fifty yard dashes.
In his three years at Georgia, Gurley has ran for a career-long of 51 yards each year. More specifically, Gurley accomplished the 51-yard run feat twice despite being suspended for a fourth of the season.
Clemson was the first victim, allowing Gurley to rush for a long of 51 yards and giving up just shy of 200 yards rushing to him (198). A month later, in another home game but this time against Vanderbilt, Gurley broke out again for a 51-yard stretch and was able to attain a season-best 208 grind-and-fight yards.
Just imagine if he had been able to play the entire season and wasn’t suspended.
This just goes to show that there is no shortage of on the field talent–if you think there’s none or not as much as previous years then something may be seriously wrong with you–but it’s rather a sense of strong and developed discipline that needs to be applied to the younger generations of players.
Once that’s established, the performances that unfold before our eyes as spectators and reporters will only wow us even more than we could’ve ever imagined.
Even in our wildest dreams.
Do you want to look at more prospect profiles? Then click 2015 NFL Draft Top Prospects Rankings: Top-3 QB, RB, WR, S, CB, OLB, DE
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