The Impact of Great Running Backs

[SuperMan28]

Just been thinking about Gurley's impact on that ARZ game. Can it be understated? Gurley simply took over and the team as a whole played with a lot more confidence. Once Gurley started maneuvering through arm tackles like hot butter, you just feel confidence of the team grow with every carry.

"The Greatest Show on Turf does not happen without Marshall Faulk." Those are the words of Warner in an interview remember the golden years of GSOT. And in the words of the all time great himself, "great players make those around them better."

I believe we all got that sense of greatness back when watching Gurley drive coffin nails with his legs Sunday. It's been a while since we could say "just a crease and he's off to the races." Clearly it's not just us thinking it, the OL played better than it had all year in the second half of ARZ.

A play that still absolutely blows my mind is the second Tavon TD. ARZ blitzed hard, and the OL couldn't have picked it up any better. Just in the first half Foles got rolled on a very similar blitz and he had almost no time on that sack. I don't know what happened to the OL where they figured out how to pick that up. Wait.., actually I do. They just got done clearing some space for Gurley and he rewarded them greatly. You just know that carried over on that blitz. Foles had enough time to pull that throw back and deliver a strike.

I do believe confidence has been as much of a problem with the lack of consistency as much as mental errors. Take the WAS game for example, a game Gurley did not play in. Rams walk in there pretty casual and struggle. They couldn't run, pass protect, or even get seperation. They struggled to find that one answer that is always there. That is because, quite frankly, it didn't exist. It was so badly contagious that even the defense felt it. Two weeks later in ARZ, the Rams found that rock they could lean on at any time. Todd Gurley.

With TG30 breaking off run after run, something clicked with this team. They started looking sharper as a whole. They smelled the blood in the water and they executed. So what is going to happen when adversity arises this week? They'll hand the ball off to Gurley, the defense will/eventually over play it, and they will smell blood again and we'll have another game full of grit and hard hitting. You won't see this team pull a WAS while Gurley is in there. You may see some mental errors, but not a lack of effort. Why is that? Because Gurley is too exciting of a player to not play your tail off for. And with him getting the attention, some guy named Tavon Austin is slip behind the scenes and do something on the lines of 96 yards receiving, 20 rushing, and 2 TD's. Don't sleep on Bailey, either.

I'm feeling the greatness, the greatness of winning. And like Faulk sparked the dynamic GSOT, I believe TG30 will spark a dynamic all around attack for the 2015 Rams on a consistent basis.

The next chapter will be written in GB. And woe to the media heads if/when we come out on top. But then again, they'll be too excited about watching Gurley to be down... or will they?

Is it Sunday yet? Go Rams

 

[jrry32]

It's severely understated. In terms of impacting wins and losses, QBs are the only position that has a greater impact. Especially when we're talking about great/elite HBs.

 

[blue4]

I think elite players change the game and impact wins. The position is negligible. An offense designed to pass first a left tackle may impact every play. Tampa Bay was more dictated off Warren Sapp then Warrick Dunn. If you have an elite back, you use him. If your elite player is a WR, you use him. For us, the style of offense we run having the elite player be a RB means more.

 

[jrry32]

I think elite players change the game and impact wins. The position is negligible. An offense designed to pass first a left tackle may impact every play. Tampa Bay was more dictated off Warren Sapp then Warrick Dunn. If you have an elite back, you use him. If your elite player is a WR, you use him. For us, the style of offense we run having the elite player be a RB means more.

Does the left tackle impact the player any more than the left guard does?

As far as a WR goes, he doesn't have the impact that a HB does because a WR is reliant on the QB to get him the ball.

The position isn't negligible. I have to disagree with that. You can avoid a lockdown CB. You can make it hard to get the ball to an elite WR. What can you do to the HB? He doesn't rely on anyone to get him the ball and he touches the ball far more often than any player that isn't the QB.

 

[blue4]

Does the left tackle impact the player any more than the left guard does?

As far as a WR goes, he doesn't have the impact that a HB does because a WR is reliant on the QB to get him the ball.

The position isn't negligible. I have to disagree with that. You can avoid a lockdown CB. You can make it hard to get the ball to an elite WR. What can you do to the HB? He doesn't rely on anyone to get him the ball and he touches the ball far more often than any player that isn't the QB.

By avoiding one side of the field staying away from the corner you negatively effect your offense. See GB's loss to Seattle last year. And Sherman isn't even that elite.

An elite WR doesn't get shut down often and again effects the entire game plan of both teams. By making it hard to get him the ball you make it easy to get the ball to everyone else.

The RB is every bit as reliant on the 5 men on the OL as the WR is on the QB. You can game plan for a HB. We shut down Lynch. We shut down AP.

I'll give you the left tackle. But I do think the position is negligible as it really depends largely on the make up of your 51 other players and the type of offense or defense you run. If your team is built on defense, and that defense is built on getting pressure with only 4 rushers like the old Tampa Bay, then an elite DT is more important than an elite RB.

 

[drasconis]

He doesn't rely on anyone to get him the ball and he touches the ball far more often than any player that isn't the QB.

Actually that would make the RB the 3rd most important generally....by touches (in general) it would be Center->QB->RB....

I tend to agree with Blue...it depends on team make-up. Impact /elite players affect them game regardless of position. Look at Gronk or JJ in ATL.

 

[LazyWinker]

I think elite players change the game and impact wins. The position is negligible. An offense designed to pass first a left tackle may impact every play. Tampa Bay was more dictated off Warren Sapp then Warrick Dunn. If you have an elite back, you use him. If your elite player is a WR, you use him. For us, the style of offense we run having the elite player be a RB means more.

I just want to say Warrick Dunn split carries with the giant that is Mike Alstott. I can't lie, I enjoyed watching Alstott and Dunn.

As far as a WR goes, he doesn't have the impact that a HB does because a WR is reliant on the QB to get him the ball.

I disagree with you but only because Isaac Bruce pretty much did just that in 1995. Bruce was the greatest receiver of all time.

 

[Psycho_X]

Like what has been said, a lot depends on the team and how they like to play ball and their philosophy. But absolutely right that an elite RB can make an entire offense look better. The defense being legit, truly scared of your RB will make your o-line, QB, and receivers all look and play better. It takes pressure away from the passing game both in responsibility and pass rush and makes the d-line have to think a split second before really committing to what they are going to do. Completely gives the offense the advantage.

Of course, same can be said about a great QB except even more so. But definitely looking forward to seeing how much better this whole offense looks with Gurley scaring people.

 

[Athos]

Well, look at Wussel. Offense was steaming trash with Lynch against a Lions team that's a poor D. 24th in total D, 111 yards/game on the ground. Without Wussel and his recovery water, their RBs had 70 yards/20 attempts for a 3.3 AVG. And the longer Lynch is out, the more sacks will pile up for that midget.

And our running was horrible against ARZ until Gurley went off.

We have good complimentary backs, but Gurley is one of those types that can take over a game by himself.

Though I'd say having an elite offensive skill player certainly makes offense better in general, whether it's a QB/HB/WR.

 

[JonRam99]

I was driving down the road when I heard that Gurley series where he had 2 straight long runs; I started screaming in my car, "BACK breaking runs! BACK breaking runs! Yes, finally!!! We got this!!!" He then ran for 0, then for 5 more to set up the TD pass. Next series, the 52 yd run.
Nothing breaks the spirit of an opposing D like an RB running over / through them. A defense can overlook a long pass completion & go, "they got lucky". But when they collectively cannot stop an incredible RB, it shakes them up pretty good.
All this said, let's see what happens in GB..... the Gurley runs in AZ were no doubt special, but this team is so up & down it makes me wanna take Dramamine on Sundays.

 

[Boston Ram]

A play that still absolutely blows my mind is the second Tavon TD. ARZ blitzed hard, and the OL couldn't have picked it up any better. Just in the first half Foles got rolled on a very similar blitz and he had almost no time on that sack. I don't know what happened to the OL where they figured out how to pick that up. Wait.., actually I do. They just got done clearing some space for Gurley and he rewarded them greatly. You just know that carried over on that blitz. Foles had enough time to pull that throw back and deliver a strike.

I do believe confidence has been as much of a problem with the lack of consistency as much as mental errors. Take the WAS game for example, a game Gurley did not play in. Rams walk in there pretty casual and struggle. They couldn't run, pass protect, or even get seperation. They struggled to find that one answer that is always there. That is because, quite frankly, it didn't exist. It was so badly contagious that even the defense felt it. Two weeks later in ARZ, the Rams found that rock they could lean on at any time. Todd Gurley.

Pretty insightful stuff here. It will be interesting to see how they continue to respond over the next few weeks.

 

[FrantikRam]

I think the RB position in general has been underrated. Much like the offensive line now, colleges transitioning to more of a passing attack/spread offense has been diluting the RB pool for a while now....RB is a position that in HS and College, dynamic RBs are often going to be great at other positions as well.

It's possible that colleges are recruiting guys that could be HOF NFL RBs and having them switch positions - look at Marshall Faulk - arguably the best all around RB in NFL history, and the only college that would let him play RB was SDSU....and that was in an era when the RB position was valued more (in college). How many guys could have been great RBs only to be told they have to play DB or WR in college?

So the story in the NFL has been "you don't need a great RB" or "don't draft a RB high look at all these undrafted guys". To a point that's still true. But look at Dallas right now - they magically aren't running the ball as well as last year behind that amazing Oline...maybe Demarco had a little bit more to do with it. On the flip side, he's struggling in Philly. The RB doesn't make the OL, and the OL doesn't make the RB - they work off of each other.

Guys like Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson won their team football games with a below average passing attack - it's not as simple as a RB depending on his OL....because for both of those players, the defenses knew they would be getting the ball, and more often than not, they had more defenders than blockers - and yet they still dominated.

I'm with Jrry. The RB position can have more of an impact on the game than any except QB.

Just look at JJ Watt right now. DEs get paid more than RBs (elite ones anyway). JJ is having a good statistical season, again. But what is it translating to? That defense is horrible...he is great...but they aren't winning games because it's easy to game plan for him. Not so easy to game plan for a guy like AP.

 

[JonRam99]

Great comment, @FrantikRam re: JJ Watt. Actually, we already have a dominant Warren Sapp-like DT named Aaron Donald, and I'm sure he gives our D a little spark, & to some extent that can translate to the O, but if the O can't capitalize on big plays by the D, that little spark can get squished in a hurry.

 

[DaveFan'51]

I can't wait to see how Gurley performs in his second start! But remember we have Watts coming back this week too, and I have a feeling we will see a lot more of quick in this game!!
I sure hope this is " The Game of the Week!" like I expect it will be!!! A knock-Down, Drag-um-out Brawl!!:snicker:

 

[fearsomefour]

The impact that Gurley can have on this team cannot be overstated.
It allows for a meaningful play action game with Foles. I thought all along a lot of Foles successes in Philly have to do with that great running game they had. The play action helps free up receivers and helps the O line as well.
Being able to pound the ball and control the clock certainly helps the D. By shortening the game (assuming the teams O is flowing and gets ahead, based on the run game) it may give the D two fewer possession to defense. That alone moves this D into one of the top D's in the league.
On the blitz pickup on the second Austin TD Cunningham recognized the blitz and picked up a free runner....great play by Cunningham.

 

[LACHAMP46]

A couple of elite backs the Rams have had did change the "outlook" of the team immediately, one was Eric Dickerson.....But that was a good team b4 he arrived. I thought, no matter how good Marshall was, we didn't win until Kurt joined the team...I could be wrong....I remember losing even though the Bus was playing....Still need a good team (QB & O-Line & WRs) around a good back. Then it seems the magic happens.

 

[blue4]

A couple of elite backs the Rams have had did change the "outlook" of the team immediately, one was Eric Dickerson.....But that was a good team b4 he arrived. I thought, no matter how good Marshall was, we didn't win until Kurt joined the team...I could be wrong....I remember losing even though the Bus was playing....Still need a good team (QB & O-Line & WRs) around a good back. Then it seems the magic happens.

Marshall and Kurt arrived the same year. We didn't win until either arrived.

 

[blue4]

Just look at JJ Watt right now. DEs get paid more than RBs (elite ones anyway). JJ is having a good statistical season, again. But what is it translating to? That defense is horrible...he is great...but they aren't winning games because it's easy to game plan for him. Not so easy to game plan for a guy like AP.

The rest of the team has to actually be decent for any if these elite players to shine. For all of Barry Sanders greatness, for all of AP's greatness they never actually won crap. Great statistical seasons and many years watching the playoffs on tv. As a coach, I'd rather face AP any day than JJ Watts or Aaron Donald. It's not easy at all to game plan for those guys, or they'd never do anything. I'd rather face AP on the Vikings than an average back behind Dallas's OL. For us, the RB being elite serves our preferred offensive system. For GB they need AR. Atlanta it goes thru their WR. Houston's problem isn't that their elite guy is easy to game plan for, it's the fact that their team is 51 stiffs and a superman.

Course that's just my opinion. Everyone looks at me funny when I say the OL is the most important unit on the field and that an average QB is all that's required to win games too.

 

[psxpaul]

Marshall and Kurt arrived the same year. We didn't win until either arrived.

Warner was on the 98 team as a backup qb, but only played in one game.

 

[FrantikRam]

The rest of the team has to actually be decent for any if these elite players to shine. For all of Barry Sanders greatness, for all of AP's greatness they never actually won crap. Great statistical seasons and many years watching the playoffs on tv. As a coach, I'd rather face AP any day than JJ Watts or Aaron Donald. It's not easy at all to game plan for those guys, or they'd never do anything. I'd rather face AP on the Vikings than an average back behind Dallas's OL. For us, the RB being elite serves our preferred offensive system. For GB they need AR. Atlanta it goes thru their WR. Houston's problem isn't that their elite guy is easy to game plan for, it's the fact that their team is 51 stiffs and a superman.

Course that's just my opinion. Everyone looks at me funny when I say the OL is the most important unit on the field and that an average QB is all that's required to win games too.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on Watt vs. AP - Watt just doesn't impact the W/L column as much as an elite RB does. IMO that's being proven out right now, this season. And I disagree that Houston is 51 stiffs and a superman. Cushing, Clowney, Joseph, Foster, Hopkins, decent OL...they have talent.

Also being proven out right now is the whole good OL average skill/QB positions - Dallas isn't nearly as effective with average players - it takes a good mix.

Also also, Peterson and Sanders both took teams with bad QBs to the playoffs - the only time Watt has made the playoffs with the Texans is when they have had decent QB play and elite weapons on offense (Foster and Johnson).