Seahawkwalt1967
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I've heard KnilesDavis but I'll say Lynch 2.0
Nfl comparison for Gurley
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Definitely Lynch-like. The one big question mark for me would be the knee injury and his long term durability. If healthy and could stay healthy he would be hard to pass on at 31 or the 2nd somewhere if we were to trade down again. :twocents:
There has never been a RB like Lynch before, and there isnt one coming along anytime soon. The comparison is a stretch honestly. Gurley is a solid RB, and might be good in the NFL if he can stay healthy. He'll never be the type who can bang heads on every play and stay healthy like beastmode.
Attyla the Hawk
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He's a different runner than Lynch. Both are physical backs. Gurley lacks in Lynch's shiftiness. He has much better straight line speed. Doesn't have the same wide base as Marshawn. But packs a wallop, and he gets low and attacks defenders with his shoulders well.
He's quite a bit bigger back. Where Marshawn is really beastly with insane effort, Gurley is a guy who lowers the boom and generally breaks free of tacklers and keeps going or goes to the ground after attacking a tackler. Not so much the patented Marshawn ability to attack a defender and then keep dragging them along until he's gang tackled. Of the two, Lynch seems much better in a phone booth so to speak. Even in confined space, he's tougher to get a handle on. Gurley uses his size and momentum to just plow ahead. The effect is similar.
Gurley is much more capable of breaking into the clear and then taking it to the house. When he gets past the linebackers, he's not like Lynch who generally is left with seeking out and punishing/attacking secondary players. Gurley is more prone to kicking it into a higher gear and running away/past secondary players. He can still punish ... but he has a gear that Lynch doesn't have anymore.
Gurley isn't going to be like Lynch who can consistently wriggle out of clean tackle opportunities at or near the LOS and get 3-4 more hard fought yards. Like the Philly game where Lynch just miraculously pops out of the pile and finishes off a 10 yard TD run. He is going to hit the hole with speed and use his momentum to carry a tackler a yard or two after contact. Both have the ability to run through arm tackles cleanly. Marshawn has a shiftiness factor that produces more of those opportunities. Gurley has a pure speed component that reduces the opportunities for defenders to get into position in the first place.
Different runners in terms of style. Both garner similar effects. They get good YAC, and have good lean/leverage to fall forward. Gurley is a better home run threat. Not sure if his ability to one cut and go ability is developed. That's a component that Lynch definitely features at a high level. And something he had to learn after arriving here. I'd guess there would be a significant learning curve for Gurley as well.
He's quite a bit bigger back. Where Marshawn is really beastly with insane effort, Gurley is a guy who lowers the boom and generally breaks free of tacklers and keeps going or goes to the ground after attacking a tackler. Not so much the patented Marshawn ability to attack a defender and then keep dragging them along until he's gang tackled. Of the two, Lynch seems much better in a phone booth so to speak. Even in confined space, he's tougher to get a handle on. Gurley uses his size and momentum to just plow ahead. The effect is similar.
Gurley is much more capable of breaking into the clear and then taking it to the house. When he gets past the linebackers, he's not like Lynch who generally is left with seeking out and punishing/attacking secondary players. Gurley is more prone to kicking it into a higher gear and running away/past secondary players. He can still punish ... but he has a gear that Lynch doesn't have anymore.
Gurley isn't going to be like Lynch who can consistently wriggle out of clean tackle opportunities at or near the LOS and get 3-4 more hard fought yards. Like the Philly game where Lynch just miraculously pops out of the pile and finishes off a 10 yard TD run. He is going to hit the hole with speed and use his momentum to carry a tackler a yard or two after contact. Both have the ability to run through arm tackles cleanly. Marshawn has a shiftiness factor that produces more of those opportunities. Gurley has a pure speed component that reduces the opportunities for defenders to get into position in the first place.
Different runners in terms of style. Both garner similar effects. They get good YAC, and have good lean/leverage to fall forward. Gurley is a better home run threat. Not sure if his ability to one cut and go ability is developed. That's a component that Lynch definitely features at a high level. And something he had to learn after arriving here. I'd guess there would be a significant learning curve for Gurley as well.
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Seahawkwalt1967
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Maybe closer to a young Steven Jackson?
Attyla the Hawk":2ixq4fog said:
Would agree with this analysis and add that I've yet to see a split leg runner like Marshawn. Gurley is a track athlete with power and I think some natural vision and shiftyness that will translate well in the NFL. Second level tacklers seem to drip off him much like Lynch. Durability is the only question for me.
chris98251
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CPHawk":2tjdwwbu said:
Look at old Highlight film of Floyd Little, you see Marshawn type running ability there.
chris98251":doct2gdo said:
Lots of people miss how great Marshawn is. Yes he breaks tackles and gets yards, but unlike 100s of other RB, he never gets hurt. Durability is Beast Modes #1 attribute Imo. 99.9% of other RB would love to play the game he does, but they can't, their bodies won't let them.
McGruff":8j2fdcwi said:
Agreed. What makes Lynch so amazing is his quick feet and wide stance. There are runners in the NFL that get tacklers off balance with pure speed; Lynch gets them off balance with his quick feet and side to side agility and unorthodox running style. Then he breaks tackles and drags guys because it's rare people get a clean shot on him.
From Attyla's description, it sounds like Gurley is kind of like an Eddie Lacy or Blount type of runner but smaller and faster. I don't know how much Gurley weighs but both Lacy and Blount go at least 240 lbs.
It's a trap fans fall into, but we're never going to replace Lynch. We're not. We can replace his production though; 1300 yards and 12 TD's aren't impossible feats. It's just finding a RB that complements our blocking scheme and OL quirks. Is Gurley that guy ? People that have more time to scout him than I do would have to answer that.
I have one big question: with the declining importance of RB's, and that fact that you have Gordon also in the draft, what makes everyone think that Gurley is going to go in the 1st round, especially coming off of a knee injury ? Teams that draft in the 1st round usually need that guy to produce NOW. We might even be in that situation: I'd theorize that if we could get either a Guard, TE or WR that could be an impact player in the 1st round, we really need that to happen. Having a better OL (not too hard) would put less emphasis on getting the next Marshawn Lynch.
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