Todd Gurley: The best player in college football

Aug 30, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) runs against the Clemson Tigers during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Clemson 45-21. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 30, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) runs against the Clemson Tigers during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Clemson 45-21. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Goodness gracious me! Todd Gurley is great (that last word is an understatement).

“Sheesh.” That is all I could think when I watched the Georgia Bulldogs running back play against South Carolina last Saturday. The man does not stop playing hard.

Sep 13, 2014; Columbia, SC, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) rushes past South Carolina Gamecocks cornerback Rico McWilliams (1) in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2014; Columbia, SC, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) rushes past South Carolina Gamecocks cornerback Rico McWilliams (1) in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports /

In college football there have been many great players that have played in the last decade. At the running back position, I have not seen a better player than Todd Gurley.

Well…I take that back, maybe one. Adrian Peterson, back in 2006. Ironically similar to Peterson, Gurley is the only other running back that I thought could play in the NFL before his junior season began.

*On another note: I thought Peterson was good enough to play after his freshman year in college. He is a once in a generation talent at the running back position.

Nevertheless, think about how many running backs in the last decade besides Peterson would you say are better than Gurley?

I’ll wait.

Maybe I am a wearing my fan boy cap, or maybe I am thinking with logical sense.

Watching the Georgia game against South Carolina was so exciting and yet so disappointing. The excitement was watching Gurley use his Superman like vision to hit the hole, get to the second level of the defense and break away for long touchdown runs.

How many times did he break for long touchdown runs and get called back because of holding penalties or a mistake committed by one of his teammates?

The answer is too many times.

That started off some of the disappointment I felt. Mostly I got disappointed watching some parts of the game because he didn’t get the ball enough. For 60 minutes that is all I wanted to see, Gurley get a carry every single down.

If that doesn’t happen, then every game he plays in is a letdown.

There were several times when Georgia was in the red zone, and they did not give him touches. It was insane to see. The key to Georgia’s success is through Gurley.

South Carolina had no answer for him, and he gashed them for 131 yards and a touchdown. The man only had 20 carries and still managed to break 100 plus yards, finishing the game with a 6.6 yards per carry average.

At one point during the game, Gurley’s yards per carry were at 7.8. He is a man among boys, and during these games in college it is becoming more clear.

During his first game of the year, Clemson tried to game plan against him and that fell short. Gurley killed them with only 15 carries. He made the most with his rushing attempts recording 198 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he finished the game with 293 all-purpose yards including a 100-yard kick return.

I mean he is even returning kicks. C’mon. Who can guard that?

It isn’t even fair for anyone attempting to stop him.

He runs angrier than a child being told they can’t have candy when they’re at the store. He has vision like a long-range sniper. He handles contact better than a crash test dummy running into a brick wall with a seatbelt. These attributes are all on display when he plays for Georgia, and it makes me believe that they have a created player in the backfield for them.

Though he gets a lot of attention because he is a really talented player, people still do not give him the recognition he deserves.

  • If he played for Alabama, they would never lose a game.
  • If he went to Miami, he’d be prime time.
  • If he went to FSU, he’d have a statue.

Gurley is a gift, and it is a blessing watching him play this college season. Already in two games this year, he has turned a lot of heads and proved he is a first round NFL talent.

There is no way anyone can tell me that he is not going in the first ten picks of the draft, and that’s stretching it.

If there was a Todd Gurley fan club and I was late to the party, then that’s ok. Because now I am leading the meetings.

Maybe next year we can watch him play on Sundays.

That silver and black sure would look nice….Raiders, maybe?