No, Todd Gurley is not the same player he was even just a couple years ago.
But still, why did the Los Angeles Rams cut him? It appears we have our answer.
The Rams made the decision Thursday to part ways with the 25-year-old running back, who proceeded to sign with the Atlanta Falcons on Friday. At his best, Gurley is one of, if not the best running back in the NFL, but knee injuries over the last few campaigns made him unreliable. And by the time the 2019 season ended, he pretty much only was effective in the passing game.
But it was the week in, week out health scares that ultimately prompted the cash-strapped Rams to move on, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke.
“That’s why they had to (cut him) — he’d become a huge distraction,” Plaschke said on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” “He wasn’t the player he once was, his knee was bad, he’s lost his agility, he’s lost his speed. The locker room demanded that he play, Gurley wanted to play more, he wanted to get more carries, the Rams couldn’t do it, they didn’t know how to explain it to the public, they didn’t want to give away the injury. So every week, the answer was — every week they were questioned, why isn’t Gurley running the ball more?”
“He had become a huge distraction, he wasn’t the player he once was.”@BillPlaschke gives us the inside perspective on the Rams releasing Todd Gurley pic.twitter.com/yXJjJPnVIK
— Around The Home (@AroundtheHorn) March 20, 2020
The reality is, the Rams went all in to win a Super Bowl, and while they got close in 2019, the window now is slammed shut. Cutting Gurley doesn’t necessarily make them a better team in 2020, but it does allow them to get back on track over the long term.
