No. 4: The Todd Gurley Factor
Sean McVay didn’t just help turn Jared Goff’s career around. No, perhaps the biggest point of note was turning running back Todd Gurley’s career around.
You know, from a lackluster 3.2-yards-per-carry average-type season in 2016 to being a first-team All-Pro and MVP candidate last year.
Gurley was the main reason the Rams boasted the league’s best offense in 2017. He received a good amount of touches too — 279, which ranked fourth most among all running backs last season. But McVay was also able to use Gurley in the passing game as well. Gurley’s 64 receptions last year were second only to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell (85), although the former’s 788 receiving yards were over 100 more than those posted by Bell (655).
All this translates to Gurley being a serious weapon for McVay, Goff and the Rams offense.
And like most quarterbacks, especially young ones, they’ll benefit from having a stout run game. Establishing the run early is essential to many offenses needing to function properly, and McVay’s is no exception. In turn, offenses can use play option to greater effect. This is where Goff stands to benefit a lot in 2018.
Case in point, Goff had a passer rating of 104.7 on play-action passes last year, per Pro Football Focus, compared to 96.2 without.
OK, so that’s not a huge spread. Many quarterbacks experience a nice boost in passer rating when using play action. The thing with Goff, however, is he used it more, on average, than any quarterback in the league last year with at least 100 dropbacks — 28 percent of the time, per PFF. Most qualifying QBs were in the 21 to 24 percent range.
Play action is important to Goff, and having a tailback like Gurley plays into the quarterback’s skill set perfectly.
Next Page: No. 3