5 reasons Jared Goff could become dark horse MVP candidate for Los Angeles Rams

2. Todd Gurley should be more productive

Expectations were high for Todd Gurley heading into his second season with the Los Angeles Rams in 2016 after taking home Rookie of the Year honors the previous year. In fact, Gurley even made a strong case for fantasy football owners across the country by encouraging them to select him with the No. 1 overall pick, which every owner who did would end up regretting this decision big time.

Seeing Gurley fail to record a single 100-yard game during his sophomore season was nothing shy of embarrassing for the running back, but hopefully that won’t be the case heading into 2017. Between Jared Goff having better weapons to work with along with an improved offensive line, Gurley should be able to have a bounce back season, and his recent performance against the Oakland Raiders (38 rushing yards with a touchdown on eight carries) provides the Rams with hope.

With all of these improvements made by Los Angeles, it’s going to be tough for Gurley to come up with legitimate excuses if he experiences some of the same struggles as last year. But if Gurley can in fact return to the dominant form that was on display as a rookie in 2015, it will certainly benefit Goff when it comes to taking off some of that extra pressure for him to produce in the passing game.