Todd Gurley, Georgia RB: Seahawks Draft Profile

According to Jason La Canfora, Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks are close to a new deal. According to Lynch’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, they are not close to a new deal. It’s pretty much all smoke and mirrors at this point and there is no way to know what Marshawn is going to do next.

Oh hello, Todd Gurley.

The Georgia star running back is an absolute joy to watch run the football, much the same way Lynch is. In his two-and-a-half seasons at Georgia, Gurley ran for 3,285 yards, on 510 carries for a RIDICULOUS 6.4 yards per carry. He also had 615 yards receiving, and scored 44 total TD’s in 30 games for the Bulldogs.

Nov 15, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) reacts after a knee injury as an official tends to him in the fourth quarter of their game against the Auburn Tigers at Sanford Stadium. Georgia won 34-7. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

A torn ACL ended his collegiate career, which is definitely going to hurt his draft position. He is easily a top-10 talent, but the injury was non-contact, which could leave teams to believe he could be a bit fragile.

And when you’re running style mimics that of Marshawn Lynch, fragile is not something you can afford to be.

Todd Gurley Draft Profile: Strengths

Get ready to read. Because Gurley has a lot of strengths.

The first thing that jumps off the screen at you is the power and attitude he runs with. There isn’t a runner on the planet who does it as well as Beastmode, but Gurley sure comes close. He has great upper body strength, and runs with a forward-lean, which allows him to always fall forward. And if you are an arm-tackler, good luck. The Vanderbilt defense learned that lesson the hard way. If Gurley did everything the same, but didn’t fall forward like he does, he would run for 5.4 yards per carry instead of 6.4. It really makes a difference.

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He also hits his top speed almost immediately after making his cut. If you stop him in the backfield, you’ll be OK. But once he gets going, he’s hard to stop.

It looks like he has an extra gear on tape, but it’s not really an extra gear. He just accelerates to his top speed that fast.

He has good hands and obviously is dangerous when he gets the ball in space. Gurley, like Lynch, is a fantastic cutback runner due to his lightning-fast change of direction. His ability to stick his foot in the ground and turn up-field is unlike any college runningback I’ve watched.

And even moreso than Lynch, Gurley is an unbelievable all-around athlete. He hurdles players on the ground with ease without breaking stride and then sets up his next cut right after he hits the ground.

He runs split-legged, again similar to Lynch, but not as consistently. While he has the leg strength, you will occasionally see him get tripped up, or get his legs wrapped up by tacklers. This is still a positive however, he just doesn’t do it as well as Lynch.

Todd Gurley Draft Profile: Weaknesses

Nov 9, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley (3) reacts after a touchdown against the Appalachian State Mountaineers during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Appalachian State 45-6. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Like I said earlier, when you run to contact as much as Gurley does, you can’t be fragile. We’ll have to see how that knee holds up over the course of an NFL season, as well as if he recovers to his previous form.

Other than that, I guess you could say his pass protection could use work. But that isn’t really a weakness either. Just….. he’s not fantastic at it like he is at everything else.

Todd Gurley Draft Profile: Marshawn Lynch’s Successor?

We haven’t seen Todd Gurley play since tearing up his knee. That could be enough to deter some teams from using a first round pick on him. But watch the film, and you can’t help but hope for him to end up in Seattle.

I have been Marshawn Lynch’s biggest supporter over the past year. My first article here at Emerald City Swagger back in August was about how underrated he was and that he isn’t going to hit a wall as he nears the dreaded three-oh.

It may not be the perfect time to pick up his replacement, as it is very likely that Lynch will be coming back for another year or possibly more. But there won’t be another runner like Gurley for a long time.

Previous reports in the Seahawks Draft Profile series include:

Photo credit for all above pictures: USA Today Sports