Everybody has to decide for themselves if Gurley is a Peterson-type talent or not (I think he is in the conversation).
Regardless of that, Fisher and Snead made it clear he is the RB of the future and they do view him as a generational talent. They won't rush him back for redraft purposes. But in dynasty, and health permitting, of course, hard to see Mason being an obstacle to Gurley being the the long term bell cow (15-20 carries).
I like Mason. But to me, Gurley is so far superior to him as a prospect at comparable stages of their career, they aren't even remotely in the same class. Anybody who doesn't already see that and agree, though, it is unlikely minds could be changed by anything you could possibly write about it.
Well when Snead and Fisher are fired a year or 2 from now, I'm not sure how much their opinion matters. But I imagine if you asked them last year they thought Mason was the long-term answer.
For me personally, I don't think Gurley is any more talented than Gordon. Scouts are just as prone to group think as everyone else. I see him running through an awful lot of huge holes and I don't see an elite talent. I guess if you do, obviously you take Gurley and don't worry about it. Seems funny to me that most people don't even question how talented he really is because they've read so many people say that he's great and they believe it without question.
I would be SHOCKED if Fisher is out in the next 2 years. The Rams now have what some consider to be the best defense in the league, at the very least they're in the question for it. If they can come out of the gate hot and win say... 5 of their first 8? And have Gurley come in after that? They may be able to pull out a playoff seed or very close to one otherwise. Look at their schedule
Week 1: Seahawks - Loss
Week 2: Redskins - Win
Week 3: Steelers - Rough one, they could go either way but we'll say loss.
Week 4: Cardinals - Loss
Week 5: Packers - Loss
Week 6: BYE, rough star at 1-4. Lets see what happens
Week 7: Browns - Win
Week 8: 49ers - Win
Week 9: Vikings - Could go either way, but I think a win here. Gurley should be back by this point at the VERY latest.
Week 10: Bears - Win
Week 11: Ravens - Could go either way but I think they beat the Ravens. I just don't see how the Ravens put up points versus them
Week 12: Bengals - Bengals aren't that good, they just aren't, Gurley could run all over them. Win
Week 13: Cardinals - Win, who knows what this team will look like this time. Week 13 last year they were fielding guys off the street.
Week 14: Lions - Win, this defense is going to be a shell of itself, the running game is lackluster now and Calvin is losing a step slowly but surely.
Week 15: Bucs - Win
Week 16: Seahawks - Likely a loss, but if Gurley is healthy and the defense is healthy this could easily be a win. They somehow always manage one huge upset a year.
Week 17: 49ers - Win again
So, I'm giving them the benefit that Gurley is who a lot of us think he is.. if he is though I could easily seeing them land themselves in a 11-5 sitation. They start the season rough but man post-bye week they play literally nobody until Week 16 when they see the Seahawks again. If Fisher makes the playoffs this year it buys him quite a lot of time with the team before he's shipped off. But last year I was damn clsoe with my call that the Cards win the NFC West, it was almost impossible for them to lose at one point. Then Carson Palmer stepped on a landmine while carrying Mathieu and Ellington and they all died.
I'll call it in the air right now in this thread: Rams win the NFC West in 2015. Gurley comes out of the gate like a bat out of hell. He runs for an average of 120yards and 1TD after coming back from his ACL tear. And similar to Beckham coming in late last year wins the OROY award.