Todd Gurley II (born August 3, 1994) is an American football running back for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia where he earned All-SEC honors in 2012 and 2013. Gurley was drafted by the Rams with the tenth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Despite missing three games due to a torn ACL suffered during his junior year at Georgia, Gurley rushed for 1,106 yards in his rookie season and was voted Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press.
Early years
Highlights: Georgia vs North Carolina 2016 - Highlights from BOTH teams! UGA 33, UNC 24. I tried to capture the big moments/emotions of the game! Nick Chubb proved to be the difference in this one along with Jacob Eason getting his feet...
Gurley attended Tarboro High School in Tarboro, North Carolina, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball, and track. He played running back and defensive back during his junior season, totalling 1,472 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, as well as 79 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble. He was named Rocky Mount Telegram All-Area Offensive Player of the Year for the 2010 season. As a senior in 2011, he was the North Carolina Associated Press Player of the Year after totalling 2,600 yards and 38 touchdowns. Gurley helped the Vikings football team win the 2A North Carolina state championship, rushing for 242 yards and four touchdowns in the championship game against Lincolnton High School. During his junior year he led the Vikings to a state championship. During his sophomore year he led them to state runner up. Gurley was also a world-class hurdler and sprinter for the school's track & field team. He competed for Team USA in the 110-metres hurdles at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he placed 3rd in the prelims with a career-best time of 13.66 seconds, but finished 15th overall in the semifinals. Also a top competitor in the 100-meter dash, he ran a personal-best time of 10.70 seconds in the prelims of the 2011 NCHSAA 2A State Track Meet, placing 2nd.
Gurley was considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, and was listed as the fifth best running back in his class. He committed to the University of Georgia to play college football under then-head coach Mark Richt.
College career
2012
Gurley began his freshman season backing up redshirt sophomore Ken Malcome. In his first game against the Buffalo Bulls, he rushed for 100 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns and also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the home victory. Gurley took over as the starter the second game of the season against SEC East opponent Missouri and rushed for 65 yards on 10 carries.
In the 2012 season, Gurley started 12 of 14 games and rushed for 1,385 yards on 222 carries with 17 touchdowns. Against Georgia Southern, Gurley became the second true freshman in Georgia history to rush for 1,000 yards, the only other being Herschel Walker in 1980. After the season, Gurley was named First-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press. He was one of two true freshman running backs to accomplish this feat in 2012, the other being T. J. Yeldon of Alabama.
2013
On August 31, in Georgia's season opener at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, Gurley led the Bulldogs with a career-high 154 rushing yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Even though the Bulldogs lost the game 38â€"35, Gurley had an impressive performance against Clemson which included a 75-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. In 10 games, he rushed for 989 yards on 165 carries with 10 touchdowns. After the season, Gurley was named Second-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press.
In the spring of 2013, Gurley joined the Georgia Bulldogs indoor track team. He competed in the 60-meter hurdles, and recorded the seventh-fastest time in school history at 8.12 seconds, to take sixth place at the VT Elite Meet.
2014
On October 9, 2014, Gurley was indefinitely suspended by the University of Georgia over an alleged violation of NCAA rules. It only took two days of investigation to determine that Gurley had received $3,000 over two years for signed autographs and memorabilia. Gurley would miss the Missouri and Arkansas games before the NCAA upheld its decision to suspend Gurley for four total games. Gurley sat out for two more games until he was eligible to play against Auburn in their annual rivalry game. In his first game back from suspension in November, Gurley tore his ACL against Auburn, ending his junior season and his career at the University of Georgia. He finished the 2014 season with 911 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Gurley decided to forego his senior season and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.
College statistics
Professional career
2015 season: Rookie year
Gurley was selected in the first round with the 10th overall pick by the St. Louis Rams in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the first running back to be selected in that year's draft. Gurley's rehabilitation went ahead of schedule and during the team's preseason, while he did not play, he practiced without pads on. Soon after, Gurley was medically cleared for full contact by St. Louis team physicians. On September 27, 2015, in Week 3, he made his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was eased into action and finished the game with 6 rushes for 9 yards in the 12-6 loss. The following week, the Rams visited the undefeated Arizona Cardinals for an NFC West divisional matchup. Again Gurley started slow with just 2 rushing yards at halftime, but rushed for 144 yards in the second half as the Rams edged the Cardinals by a score of 24-22. The next three games against the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and the San Francisco 49ers would see Gurley rush for at least 128 rushing yards per game. He scored his first NFL touchdown on October 25, 2015 against the Browns. With 566 yards in his first four NFL starts, Gurley became the most prolific rusher in his first four NFL games since the AFLâ€"NFL merger. Following the 27-6 win over the 49ers in Week 8, Gurley's jersey and cleats were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In Week 9, Gurley was held to 89 yards in the Rams' 21-18 overtime loss at Minnesota against the Vikings. In Week 10, he was contained to just 45 rushing yards in a 37â€"13 loss to the Chicago Bears. In Week 11, Gurley rushed for 66 yards against the Baltimore Ravens and scored a touchdown in the team's 16-13 loss. In Week 12, he ran for just 19 yards in a 31-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The following week, he was held to 41 rushing yards on nine carries in a blowout loss at home against Arizona. In Week 14, Gurley rushed for 140 yards in the Rams' 24-14 win over the Detroit Lions. In Week 15, he rushed for 48 yards, scored a touchdown, and became the third rookie in Rams history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (Jerome Bettis and Eric Dickerson) in a 31-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in what was the franchise's last home game in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles for the 2016 season). In Week 16, Gurley rushed for 85 yards in a 23-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, becoming the second Rams rookie, the first being Dickerson in 1983, to rush for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Gurley finished the season with 1,106 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on 229 attempts. On December 22, 2015, Gurley was selected to be part of the 2016 Pro Bowl along with fellow Rams players defensive lineman Aaron Donald and punter Johnny Hekker. Gurley was one of the five rookies to be selected to the Pro Bowl, along with Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver/kick returner Tyler Lockett, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. He was ranked 22nd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
2016 season
In the Rams' first season back in Los Angeles, Gurley struggled in his second professional season. In the first two weeks of the 2016 season against the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, Gurley was held to a combined 98 rushing yards. However, in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gurley had 28 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. His performance against the Buccaneers would prove a season best. In Week 4, Gurley caught a season-long 33-yard pass from quarterback Case Keenum in the Rams' 17-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. In the remainder of the 2016 season, Gurley's best showing was 76 rushing yards against the Miami Dolphins in Week 11. The Rams finished the season with a 4â€"12 record. Gurley finished with just 885 yards (17th in the NFL), 55.3 yards per game, a significant decline from the previous season, and six touchdowns.
2017 season
Following the firing of Jeff Fisher and subsequent hiring of Sean McVay as new head coach, Gurley looked to rebound off of a down year which frustrated him with the Rams, prompting him to call the former playbook of the team similar to that of a "middle school offense". Gurley started the 2017 season with a solid performance against the Indianapolis Colts. He had 19 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown to go along with five receptions for 56 yards in the 46â€"9 victory. In a Week 2 game against the Washington Redskins, he had 16 carries for 88 yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with three receptions for 48 yards and a receiving touchdown in the Rams 27â€"20 loss. Gurley's breakout game of 2017 came in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football. He ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 36 yards and one touchdown. He earned the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September after recording 241 rushing yards, 140 receiving yards and six total touchdowns. Gurley's streak would continue in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys where he recorded 215 total yards with 121 rushing yards and 94 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Rams 35-30 upset win. Having been held without a receiving touchdown in his first 30 games, he now had one in each of his last three, and led the NFL in total touchdowns and yards-from-scrimmage. Gurley was then named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after his 215-yard game against the Cowboys. After logging just 43 yards on 14 rushing attempts in Week 5 against the Seattle Seahawks, in Week 6 Gurley recorded his third 100-yard rushing game of 2017 with 121 yards on 23 carries against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 7, Gurley had yet another 100-yard game as 106 yards for 22 rushing attempts, 4 receptions, and 1 touchdown in the Rams 33-0 shutout victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Following the Rams' Week 8 bye, Gurley's output became more balanced for the next five games: he averaged 62 rushing- and 54 receiving-yards per game, with 100+ yards from scrimmage in four of them, and recording three touchdowns (all rushing) over that time period. In Week 14, he had 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries, along with 39 receiving yards in an impressive-but-losing effort against Philadelphia. In Week 15, Gurley had a career-best four touchdowns (three rushing, including a 57-yarder on 3rd and 20 with 30 seconds left in the first half) on 180 yards from scrimmage in a dominant 42-7 win over Seattle. He scored 24 total points in the game, which was the most for a single game by any player in the 2017 season. His performance in Week 15 earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. On December 19, 2017, Gurley was named to his second Pro Bowl as a starter. In Week 16, Gurley caught 10 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 122 rushing yards (1st and 3rd in the NFL that week respectively), earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week. Gurley was also named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for the second time that season. The playoff-bound Rams decided to have Gurley sit out the last game of the season, allowing Kareem Hunt to win the title for rushing yards, but he still led the NFL with 13 rushing touchdowns, 19 total touchdowns, and 2,093 yards-from-scrimmage and all-purpose yards. He finished the season leading the league in scoring among non-kickers with 114 points. He was the 16th player in NFL history with a 750/750 rushing/receiving yard season (8th at 1300/750).
Gurley played his first career post-season game in the Wild Card round against the Atlanta Falcons on January 6, 2018. Playing from behind most of the game, he had just 14 carries but converted them into 101 yards in the 26-13 loss.
After a stellar 2017 season, Gurley was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
NFL statistics
References
External links
- Todd Gurley on Twitter
- Los Angeles Rams bio
- Georgia Bulldogs bio
- ESPN statistics
- IAAF profile
