A year ago, Todd Gurley found himself stuck in Jeff Fisher's "middle-school offense" and as a result, he totaled only 1,212 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage. We all expected Gurley to rebound in new coach Sean McVay's offense, but nobody could've seen his MVP-caliber season coming.
Well, nobody except McVay.
On Friday, Kara Henderson posted McVay's prediction for Gurley's season, which he gave during training camp. It's freakishly accurate.
Since .@TG3II isn’t playing Sunday, let me share! B4 training camp Sean was telling us how jacked he was for Gurley and how he could use him, so I asked him for a Gurley prediction... wonderfully optimistic at time— now crazy prescient... prediction on left— actual on right...😮 pic.twitter.com/q3zUq1oxzw
— khs (@KaraHenderson) December 29, 2017
To be clear:
- Gurley totaled 2,093 yards this season. McVay predicted 2,100.
- Gurley scored 19 total touchdowns. McVay predicted 13 (so he was way off on that one).
- Gurley racked up 1,305 rushing yards. McVay predicted 1,300.
- Gurley accumulated 788 receiving yards. McVay predicted 800.
Gurley won't play in Week 17 as the Rams prepare for a home playoff game, so he won't get a chance to make his MVP case one more time and in the process, distance himself from McVay's prediction. Maybe that's the real reason behind McVay's decision to sit Gurley on Sunday. He's gotta protect his prediction.
In all seriousness, with Gurley (and Jared Goff and Aaron Donald) rested for the postseason, the Rams are in a position to make a deep run. Even if they don't, with a young offensive core of Goff, Gurley, and McVay, they're set up to contend for championships in the years to come.
