The Case for Todd Gurley as MVP

With the regular season ending, and the playoffs just beginning, the MVP race is heating up. There are quarterbacks that fit the usual mold of the past few years, wide receiver Antonio Brown (prior to his injury), and you have Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley. In my eyes, Tom Brady or Russell Wilson shouldn’t win, but Gurley should.

Let’s start with his statistics, the most important part of building a case for MVP. Gurley put up 1,305 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, which is nearly 500 more yards and more than double the amount of touchdowns he put up last year in one more carry with 279, as compared to 278 last year, plus Gurley’s 13 is the most rushing touchdowns in the league. Gurley also put up career-highs in every receiving category, with 64 receptions for 788 yards and 6 touchdowns. In the bigger picture, that’s a total of 2,093 yards and 19 touchdowns from scrimmage, his 19 touchdowns tops the amount any running back or receiver scored.

Another important case is value, which Gurley has in abundance, because he is what gets the Rams offense going. Last year, without Gurley being able to produce half as much as he did this year, that offense was dreadful. In a revamped system, the Rams flourished, and Gurley took enough pressure off of Jared Goff in order to open up the passing game.

The Rams played one game without Todd Gurley this year, and the offense didn’t produce much at all. I feel like it’s safe to say the team needs him, as he’s by far their best rushing option, and even one of their best receiving options. Gurley actually finished second in receiving yards of any receiver on the Rams, and also had the second-most receiving touchdowns.

Todd Gurley has been out of this world this year. To hammer the point home, he has more yards from scrimmage than Le’Veon Bell, who excels as both a receiver and a rusher, and usually leads in that statistic. While it’s difficult to make cases against Brady and Wilson, with Seattle missing the postseason, his case is somewhat decimated.

Just like the Patriots probably couldn’t win without Brady, the Rams can’t win without Gurley. It would be a tight race, but I feel the impact Gurley has had this year could get him that MVP award, as he’s been instrumental to the Rams season.

We’ll find out soon enough if the voters agree with me, but we can know now, do you agree?

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