Les Snead talks Todd Gurley's usage, reduced touches in next 4-5 years
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
Todd Gurley’s touches and therefore production have both been down this year after a disappointing end to the 2018 season. A lingering knee injury and the Rams’ insistence on preserving his health have played a big role in Gurley’s unimpressive start to the 2019 campaign, even though the Rams have said he’s fully healthy – aside from a thigh contusion suffered in Week 5.
It’s clear the team wants to keep Gurley as healthy as possible after signing him to a huge extension last offseason, but it’s somewhat surprising how limited he’s been this season. The Rams are using Malcolm Brown more and even got Darrell Henderson involved last week, which has also impacted Gurley’s usage.
Les Snead was on the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday and shared some details on the plan surrounding Gurley. He was asked whether there’s a long-term concern with Gurley’s knee, which he neither confirmed nor denied. He attributed the running back’s lighter workload to the flow of the game and the trio of backs Los Angeles has, adding that this will be the approach for the next 4-5 years.
“Sean came into this year knowing we’d have three quality running backs. I do think there is an element of awareness, but there’s no excel spreadsheet that says it anywhere in the building. Todd’s had a lot of touches since he’s gotten into the league. Probably common sense, sports science says that you know what, probably not getting the same amount of touches over these next 4-5 years, and how do you best manage that?” Snead said. “But again, there’s no spreadsheet. It’s how the flow of the game goes and it’s also, ‘Hey, where’s Malcolm Brown at? How has he run?’ Because there’s different styles of running against certain defenses. … And we’d definitely love to get Darrell Henderson involved because we drafted him with intent and he showed some explosion last week and we’ll continue to see him get experience on the field.”
The Rams clearly drafted Henderson in the third round because they felt he could contribute early on. They might also see him as a future replacement for Gurley, which the team won’t admit anytime soon – if ever.
Snead knows the pounding running backs take, especially with someone like Gurley who’s touched the ball more than anyone the last two years, and he wants to keep the two-time All-Pro healthy. He’s seen instances of Gurley being the player he was last season, too, particularly in the red zone.
“When you’re a running back, you take a lot of pounding over the years. Since he’s been drafted, he’s traveled more yards than any human being, scored more touchdowns than any human being,” Snead added. “And I think when you’ve seen us in the red zone this year – there’s three I can think of, maybe four – where he got the ball, hit a crease and maybe met some defenders trying to keep him out of the end zone. I think those are the type of runs show that Todd’s got plenty left in the tank.”
It’ll be worth monitoring how the Rams handle Gurley’s workload in the next few years. If he continues to get about 15 touches per game moving forward – if that becomes the norm for him – it’ll make the contract extension the Rams gave him look like a huge mistake. Gurley needs touches to make his contract worthwhile, especially given the nature of the position he plays where talented backs are almost a dime a dozen.
