Cooper was pacing for like 90 receptions and 1,200 yards before the SD game, than he had his third 100+ yard receiving game in his first six, for the first time since Mike Ditka in 1961, which would make him a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year, in a normal season.
But no such thing as a normal season with Gurley.
Fisher has called him the best back he has ever had at this stage of his career (includes Eddie George and Chris Johnson).
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/22828/jeff-fisher-calls-todd-gurley-best-back-hes-coached-at-early-stage-of-career
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher had some flashbacks to his Tennessee days during Sunday's 24-6 win against the Cleveland Browns.
As Fisher watched rookie running back Todd Gurley carve up the Browns to the tune of 128 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, Rams fans at the Edward Jones Dome showered Gurley with chants of "Gur-ley, Gur-ley." It was a familiar sound to Fisher's days coaching Titans running back Eddie George and made him reminisce about a former Rams running back who used to hear similar support.
“A little bit, yeah," Fisher said. "I would’ve liked to have been around to listen to the ‘Eric’ chant as well, the Eric Dickerson chant. It’s good. The fans were great today. They helped today with respect to their false starts and the penalties and things like that. I’m sure they enjoyed watching Todd run."
Fisher might as well have included himself in the Gurley Appreciation Fan Club. After Gurley's latest 100-plus yard outburst in which he brought his three-game total to 433 rushing yards, fourth most of any back in his first three starts since the 1970 merger, Fisher was asked if he's ever coached a running back who is so good, so soon.
“No, and I’ve been around some really good ones," Fisher said. "Chris Johnson was outstanding early. Eddie George was outstanding early. I don’t recall them having the numbers that they had after three full games like Todd has.”
Since we're on the topic, let's take a quick look and throw Dickerson in since Fisher mentioned him as well:
In his first three full games as the starter, Gurley has 433 rushing yards, two touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per carry.
While certainly impressive in his own right, Johnson had 327 rushing yards, one touchdown and averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his first three full games in 2008.
George had 267 rushing yards, one touchdown and averaged 4.9 yards per carry in his first three starts in 1996.
Dickerson had 254 rushing yards, four touchdowns and averaged 3.7 yards per carry in his first three games in 1983.
Of course, out of that quartet, only Gurley was coming off a torn left ACL when he did it. And while Gurley is still working his way back to full strength, Sunday's win against Cleveland was his first game without a brace protecting the knee.
After the game, Gurley said he noticed the difference between playing with the brace and without it.
"It definitely felt a lot better," Gurley said. "Usually I'll be on the side just messing with the straps and stuff like that, so it definitely felt a lot better today."
That Gurley, who already has impressed his coach more than such former running back luminaries like George, is only scratching the surface of what he can do is an ominous sign for defensive coordinators around the NFL.
“[He's] just an animal," quarterback Nick Foles said. "The guy’s an extremely talented, hard-worker. His vision, when he runs, like I’ve said before, just watching him run, he’s special. There’s not many people that can run like that, that have ever played this game. So, he’s a young guy that keeps working hard. So, the sky is the limit to what he can do throughout his career.”
