Gurley is already facing fewer loaded boxes than he did in '16...

Todd Gurley is already facing far fewer loaded boxes than he did in 2016

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Todd Gurley was not good in 2016. There’s simply no way around that. He took a huge step back after a remarkable rookie season, failing to reach 1,000 yards despite receiving more carries than he had in 2015.

There were several reasons for that, ranging from the offensive play calling, the offensive line and Gurley’s lack of vision at times. It didn’t help that the Rams had no semblance of a passing attack, leading to loaded boxes on a regular basis.

With Jared Goff looking significantly better than he did in 2016, the hope is that teams won’t be able to load the box against Gurley. It worked in Week 1 as Gurley faced far fewer eight-man boxes than he did last season.

It’s only one week, but this is a positive trend. In 2016, Gurley had just one game with fewer than 10 percent of his carries coming against eight-man boxes. In Week 1 of last season, that number was 29.41 percent. Week 2? A whopping 63.16 percent.

There’s no guarantee this trend will continue throughout the season, but it’s certainly a great sign for his chances of having a bounce-back year. On the flip side, though, Gurley didn’t take advantage of Sean McVay’s offense opening up the field for him.

He still averaged just 2.1 yards per carry on the day, and only 3.1 against seven-man boxes. Needless to say, that’s not good and will likely make some believe he’s still the player he was last season.

It’s still very early, but it’s good to see McVay’s offense and Goff’s arm helping open up the field for Gurley.