Is It Unfair to Blame Todd Gurley For Struggling in 2016 With Los Angeles Rams?

A recent report claims former members of the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff believe Todd Gurley has nobody to blame but himself for a disappointing 2016 season.

There’s plenty of blame to go around when it comes to what went wrong for the Los Angeles Rams during their disastrous 4-12 finish in 2016, but Todd Gurley will always be seen as one of the biggest factors after a successful rookie season the previous year. As if failing to record a single 100-yard game during his sophomore season wasn’t already frustrating enough, it looks like Gurley is taking quite the criticism from some of his previous coaches for his production being down.

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Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole reported on Friday that former members of the team’s coaching staff claim Gurley has nobody to blame for himself for what took place during the 2016 season. One of the most interesting takes from the report is the part where Cole discusses how Gurley missed most of the offseason program for the Rams to participate in other activities, like hanging out with rapper Jay-Z instead.

Of course, the most interesting quote may be the part from the one coach who pointed out it was the same offense from his rookie season, so why would it be any different?

Be sure to check out the rest of Cole’s report on Gurley as it will certainly be interesting to hear how the running back responds to this criticism. Expectations may have been high for Gurley at the beginning of his sophomore season after earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2015, but it’s unfair to put most of the blame on one individual.

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In fact, the argument can be made that Los Angeles could have taken some of the load off Gurley with stronger weapons in the passing game for Case Keenum or Jared Goff since players like Tavon Austin are clearly far from the answer. Maybe if this actually happened, Gurley wouldn’t have been the victim of seeing opponents stacking the box more often than usual since it was obvious he was the most dangerous, and sometimes only, weapon on the Rams’ offense.