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Todd Gurley vs Ezekiel Elliot (1 Viewer)

T

Topwaterfrog

Footballguy
Who has a better future in the NFL I can see arguments for either side being great and being busts.For Ezekiel we have not seen him play a NFL game.But Todd gurley slowed at the end of last year when teams began to stack the box.

 
Future is impossible to say. For this year, Zeke has a higher ceiling, Gurley has a higher floor IMO. The Dallas line and offense in general should provide Zeke the opportunity to be very successful where Gurley is going to have less scoring chances, catch less passes and have to earn more of his yards. On the other hand, we have seen that Gurley translates to the NFL. He is an elite NFL RB talent and no matter how bad the Rams are, he is going to be an every week starter. Zeke, we just don't know. There are plenty of rookie drafted with high hopes that just bust. 

 
Zeke has the perfect situation. Gurley the best RB ive seen since AP, in a crummy situation 

Gotta go w Gurley, despite it. Absolute monster

 
Hawkeye21 said:
No idea.  I'll let you know once I actually see Elliott play a season.
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Or at least a fake game.

I'm big on taking shots on unproven players but best way I can answer this question right now is to say I have Gurley as my #1 dynasty RB and he's to talented for me to move off that perch for a player I've not seen play, even if their current situations are night and day.

 
I like Elliott more this season, but Gurley more long term. I think the Rams offense will get better long term, while Dallas likely ill only get worse, especially post Romo. That said, I think Dallas is a much better situation in the short term, and allows far greater TD potential and obviously a better o-line. As talents, I think they are close enough, that situation is of utmost important. 

 
travdogg said:
I like Elliott more this season, but Gurley more long term. I think the Rams offense will get better long term, while Dallas likely ill only get worse, especially post Romo. That said, I think Dallas is a much better situation in the short term, and allows far greater TD potential and obviously a better o-line. As talents, I think they are close enough, that situation is of utmost important. 
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with that line, Romo getting hurt might actually help Elliott produce

that said, gurley is the best since AP. AP hs basically been in a revolving door of terrible offenses for most of his career, didnt stop him. Im on the Gurley train for now

 
Are there (or should there be) concerns over the domestic abuse allegation surrounding Zeke? If there's something there it could certainly impact his playing time. If not, it's at least a distraction.

 
achemen said:
Are there (or should there be) concerns over the domestic abuse allegation surrounding Zeke? If there's something there it could certainly impact his playing time. If not, it's at least a distraction.
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i feel like that was debunked and resolved already

 
Pwingles said:
with that line, Romo getting hurt might actually help Elliott produce

that said, gurley is the best since AP. AP hs basically been in a revolving door of terrible offenses for most of his career, didnt stop him. Im on the Gurley train for now
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I think I disagree with all of this. No RB gets better when the offense collapses. McFadden might have been a top-5 RB in PPG last year, if Romo hadn't gotten hurt. 

I think its very dangerous to assume Gurley(or anyone) can do the things the Adrian Peterson has. I'm not convinced Gurley is more talented than Elliott. He's got the advantage of having proven he can beat NFL defenses, but a lot of scouts preferred Elliott. Either way, neither has proven they are anywhere near on the level of peak Adrian Peterson. Or Jamaal Charles, or even LeSean McCoy for that matter.

 
travdogg said:
I think I disagree with all of this. No RB gets better when the offense collapses. McFadden might have been a top-5 RB in PPG last year, if Romo hadn't gotten hurt. 

I think its very dangerous to assume Gurley(or anyone) can do the things the Adrian Peterson has. I'm not convinced Gurley is more talented than Elliott. He's got the advantage of having proven he can beat NFL defenses, but a lot of scouts preferred Elliott. Either way, neither has proven they are anywhere near on the level of peak Adrian Peterson. Or Jamaal Charles, or even LeSean McCoy for that matter.
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You think he will lose reps if romo goes down? I don't. More opportunity is what we all need from our Rbs right?

Anywho, I think zeke is very talented, and will do very well in Dallas. I'm just not willing to take him over a guy like Gurley as things stand right now. I know exactly what im getting from Gurley, and his reps will increase in the pass game as time goes also, so his value goes up some FF wise.

I dont think its that reckless to mention Gurley in the same breath as AP. How many have come out, been compared to AP, and even semi lived up to it?

 
Pwingles said:
You think he will lose reps if romo goes down? I don't. More opportunity is what we all need from our Rbs right?
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I think that logic is flawed. If Romo goes down, Dallas falls apart offensively, that means they spend a lot less time in scoring range. Elliott scores far fewer TDs, and the team runs fewer plays in general due to being that much easier to stop.  The defense plays worse, because they are on the field more often, which results in playing from behind more often. 

 
Elliot is in the perfect situation to go for 1200+ yds and 10 TD and winning ROY.  That being said, I like Gurley more this year and for his career as I think Gurley has a chance to be very special.  That's not a knock on EE as he's going to be good but rather how high I think Gurleys ceiling could be.  

 
At this point, there are arguments for Gurley being a bust despite receiving rookie of the year honors, playing fewer than 16 games, playing a tough schedule on a powerless team, not catching passes out of the backfield, and still recovering from ACL damage? Holy cow. It's tough out there. EZE hasn't taken a snap yet we feel he is on equal footing. Ya..no.

 
As a RB prospect, it is foolish and plain ignorant to call them equals.  Gurley is better plain and simple.  Someone above me said that some scouts preferred Elliott to Gurley?  I find that hard to believe and would like to be pointed in that direction.  

Elliott got the perfect storm situation that fell in his lap, due to no effort what so ever.  I'll take the more talented guy 10 times out of 10 and hope he has his head on straight.  Gurley hasn't shown anything to warrant a bad feeling on my part so the more talented RB it is.  Gurley > Zeke and it isn't even close.

 
^^^

I find it extremely hard to digest that someone who watches college ball, and watched both Gurley and Elliott, came out thinking "Elliott is the better prospect"

I would have NO idea in what regard. In that he didn't tear his ACL?

 
Zyphros said:
As a RB prospect, it is foolish and plain ignorant to call them equals.  Gurley is better plain and simple.  Someone above me said that some scouts preferred Elliott to Gurley?  I find that hard to believe and would like to be pointed in that direction.  

Elliott got the perfect storm situation that fell in his lap, due to no effort what so ever.  I'll take the more talented guy 10 times out of 10 and hope he has his head on straight.  Gurley hasn't shown anything to warrant a bad feeling on my part so the more talented RB it is.  Gurley > Zeke and it isn't even close.
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Gurley and Elliot, as prospects, are much closer than what you described. Elliot was actually drafted 6 spots ahead of Gurley (albeit that may be partially based on Gurley's/Rams' success with spending a top 10 pick on a rb). Gurley for sure is the more explosive athlete and more gifted physically (they are 88.5% matches on mockdraftable profile), but Elliot is absolutely better at other skills/talents that factor into how good of a runner he is (I'm not referring to pass blocking and route running etc which Elliot is unquestionably better at btw). I'm talking about movement skills, vision, aggression, etc. 

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2016/4/5/11362758/nfl-draft-2016-ezekiel-elliott-todd-gurley-running-back-ohio-state-alabama

 
Soulfly3 said:
If both were available this draft, Gurley is a Cowboy. 1000000%
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Don't be so sure about that. Wasn't Elliot the #1 player on Dallas' draft board this year?

I have no idea if people are underrating Elliot's talents, or not realizing how great Dallas' offensive line is (or, has been). I'm firmly in the "it's impossible to overdraft Elliot this year in redraft" camp.

 
I reaaaaaaally like Elliott. I took him at 6 in the FBG league draft. 

I am certain that no team would have ahealthy gurley ranked below elliott. Based on everything I saw in college, I see 1 excellent back, and one that blew my mind like only AP has. 

 
maf005 said:
Don't be so sure about that. Wasn't Elliot the #1 player on Dallas' draft board this year?

I have no idea if people are underrating Elliot's talents, or not realizing how great Dallas' offensive line is (or, has been). I'm firmly in the "it's impossible to overdraft Elliot this year in redraft" camp.
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thats the rumor, but gurley wasnt in this draft soooo

 
maf005 said:
Don't be so sure about that. Wasn't Elliot the #1 player on Dallas' draft board this year?

I have no idea if people are underrating Elliot's talents, or not realizing how great Dallas' offensive line is (or, has been). I'm firmly in the "it's impossible to overdraft Elliot this year in redraft" camp.
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Teams don't typically put NFL rostered players on their rookie draft board.  HTH

 
maf005 said:
You don't say? 

I mean, Dallas valued Elliot more than 'consensus' meaning there is a non-zero chance Dallas valued him more than Gurley
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Possible. But personally, I think it'd be somewhat ludicrous to take elliott first (provided both entered sans injury) 

 
I think its a matter of what you want your RB to do. I will agree that Gurley is a better runner than Elliott, that said, Elliott is a better pass blocker and pass catcher. So, if you value RBs who are strong in the passing game, you could argue that Elliott is a better prospect because of superior versatility. The same way a person could make an argument that Jamaal Charles was a better RB for the Chiefs than Adrian Peterson would have been. Peterson is a better, more powerful runner, but Charles value in the passing game is why the Chiefs would likely have not made that trade. 

I think Elliott is a better fit for what Dallas wants, than Gurley would have been. 

 
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travdogg said:
I think its a matter of what you want your RB to do. I will agree that Gurley is a better runner than Elliott, that said, Elliott is a better pass blocker and pass catcher. So, if you value RBs who are strong in the passing game, you could argue that Elliott is a better prospect because of superior versatility. The same way a person could make an argument that Jamaal Charles was a better RB for the Chiefs than Adrian Peterson would have been. Peterson is a better, more powerful runner, but Charles value in the passing game is why the Chiefs would likely have not made that trade. 

I think Elliott is a better fit for what Dallas wants, than Gurley would have been. 
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yeah, absolutely agree with this

In a season, or even halfway through this season, my opinion could change for sure. Everything is lining up for zeke to have success so its totally possible for him to be the top dynasty and redraft RB next year.

For me, the attractive thing about Gurley for FF is his situation isnt due to change, Fisher gonna run him a ton. So I like that, super high floor. Similar to AP in that regardless of how terrible their offense is, its still gonna run through him, especially with a guy like Fisher there. I do think tho, that even tho zeke is a better fit for Dallas, gurley is likely a very capable receiver and likely able to be good in pass pro if he was ever needed to be. So I think he wouldve been a decent fit there as well, but youre right about zeke being the better fit for Dallas

 
In college Zeke had 592 rush attempts and 58 catches. Gurley had 510 and 65. 

I can't recall enough from watching them to say one looks better than the other but Zeke is being make out like he is some kind of pass catching wizard and Gurley will never catch a pass. Based off of their situations within their team, I would say Zeke probably has a good shot at catching more passes but that draws back to their situations and not the players.

Gurley . Zeke

Sorry about the messy post and edits. Technical issues. 

 
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Borden said:
In college Zeke had 592 rush attempts and 58 catches. Gurley had 510 and 65. 
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You had to go and bring facts into this, didn't you. 

I think Gurley will do fine in the passing game this year. People are way too negative on him and the passing game. 

 
I watched Gurley in three games last year. I remember him catching the ball with ease and immediately going into run mode with it.

They just want the ball in his hands as much as possible to make plays. Nobody can make plays like he can, they aren't going to waste too many passes on cunningham when it could be Gurley with the ball in his hands. That offense is grim, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with more catches than Elliott. 

 
 Do the exercise of reversing their situations and it becomes a little more telling in my opinion.   Put Zeke on the Rams this year and he's a nice RB but not elite, put Gurely in Dallas and he's the clear-cut no question number one running back (which some argue he is now with the Rams).   The thought of Gurley playing behind the Dallas line, with a proven QB and a stud WR is truly scary.  Dude is a freak.  

Here's a great article on just how special Gurley is....  http://subscribers.footballguys.com/apps/article.php?article=gurleyjohnson01

 
With more than half of a season in the books, how does the shark pool feel now? Gurley has been barely startable and Elliot is probably the most valuable dynasty asset

 
maf005 said:
With more than half of a season in the books, how does the shark pool feel now? Gurley has been barely startable and Elliot is probably the most valuable dynasty asset
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Nothing to feel on this one. Zeke is in a dream situation and is a top 3 fantasy player. 

 
maf005 said:
With more than half of a season in the books, how does the shark pool feel now? Gurley has been barely startable and Elliot is probably the most valuable dynasty asset
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Sold me.  Given that OL you can't argue with Zeke being the fantasy MVP and possibly the NFL MVP.

 
Watching the DAL/PIT game today, I kept thinking about how nice it would be to watch Gurley play for Dallas. 

-signed, Sad Dynasty Gurley Owner

 
Dizzy said:
Oh boy. I see we are deep into Gurley denial.
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I'm not seeing anyone doing that. Are you arguing that Gurley lacks top tier talent? It's impossible to really gauge who a better player as one is in the perfect situation and one is in the opposite. Obviously Elliot is the better fantasy asset now and probably going forward, but to think that situation is irrelevant is silly.

 
Zeke did this stuff in college. Was the direct cause of OSU's Championship. There is never an equivilant scenario in the NFL. Fact is a decent amount on this board argued Elliott didn't have the long speed and extra gear to do what he's doing. They were wrong. He is AD in his prime behind the OLine equivilant to KC in the 2000's and Dallas in the 90's. We'll probably never see a scenario like this again.

 
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