Ghurley Or David Johnson

[KMA]

Here is another twist, Todd Gurley was not playing at 100%. One full season removed from knee surgery where he doesnt have to worry about weekly treatment or bulky braces. No more training wheels. If you think we have seen the best of Gurley think again. Next season he will be a monster. Especially if they strengthen the o line even a little bit. Cant wait. Give me Gurley before you even open your lips to name any other runningback besides Leveon Bell. I respect the hell out of Bell and he is the only back I value higher.

[FearTheBeard]

i gotta go ghurley and i'm a DJ owner....

[gallopingghost]

Guys. DJ had one good game, one good run.

Kind of reminds me of the Ameer Abdullah hype after his big game/run.


God I wish I had some shares of DJ to sell off right now.

DJ had more than one good game and certainly more than one good run. Come on give the guy a little credit for what he did over a four-game stretch since taking over the job not to mention the plays he made in the passing game and return game throughout the year in a limited role to pile up 12 TDs. As a rookie. If you want to label him a sell that is fine. I understand. But acting like he has done nothing this year outside of one game and one run is more ridiculous than comparing him to Gurley imo

[Apollom4]

DJ scored more points than Gurley in mostly a limited role in our ppr scoring format(which gave bonus to 100+ yd performances which favored gurley). I have both Gurley and DJ, woe is me haha. Gurley can run better and is a transcendent talent as a runner. IF we were in a vacuum it would be Gurley hands down. But we aren't ...

People like to compare him to AP thus far, or at least the main stream does. But we can look at the numbers for a guy like gurley by comparing him to AP. Now gurley MIGHT be better than AP, but he is touted as a pure runner, so that's who we can compare him to. Note that these stats are for PPR formats. If you play standard, it's Gurley without question. While AP has been nothing short of fantastic most would assume over his hall of fame career thus far, he has only been the #1 fantasy ppr RB ONCE. The guys that often are past him on the charts and end up being the #1 RBs in fantasy football are guys that consistently catch the ball. Running and receiving threats. Going back to 2007, the vast majority of #1 RBs have been guys with 50+ catches. We have Brian Westbrook, Forte, CJ2K(he did have 50 catches on top of his 2k yds), Arian foster(also the top 3 this year all had 60+ catches), Ray Rice, AP (2k yds + 40+ catches, 0 TDs receiving though, probably should have had more points!), JC, Bell (top 3 all had 50+ receptions), and this year Freeman(who had 72 receptions). Yes we can go through the years and break down each games, but total points are total points.

With that said if you are in a ppr format you have to consider David Johnson because of the style in which he plays. He has the potential and demonstrated briefly that he can be a true 3 down-all purpose back, which in PPR is who scores the most points year in and year out. Granted the hype train is rolling a bit too strong for my liking, this IS a very valid question. I'm not shopping either back, but I can say with 100% certainty, Gurley has hands down given me the best offers on the table. The facts are on the table though, most people would take Gurley, his ADP is higher. Also, you can't short sell an offense, DJ is hands down in a better situation(assuming bruce arians doesn't bruce arians him). IF the rams can get a qb to take some heat off Gurley, he should have even better days ahead of him. But situation and offensive scheme you can't discount when valuing a player.

In 2013 I'm sure many people had the same questions about Bell, with his decent play to end the season. Some owners probably sold and some owners are now laughing as they have the #1 dynasty RB. With that said what makes david johnson different than leveon bell? The fact that david johnson was actually better? Bell averaged 3.5 YPC, 8 tds rushing and 45 receptions for 408 and no tds. DJ averaged 4.6 YPC the same number of touchdowns, 35 receptions for 455 yds and 4 touchdowns. Will he be as good as Bell who the heck knows, thats what makes dynasty so much fun. Half of us will be laughing as we kept a top 5 asset, or the other half will be laughing in our face because we are dumb. Only time will tell.

[Lunchboxll]

DJ scored more points than Gurley in mostly a limited role in our ppr scoring format(which gave bonus to 100+ yd performances which favored gurley). I have both Gurley and DJ, woe is me haha. Gurley can run better and is a transcendent talent as a runner. IF we were in a vacuum it would be Gurley hands down. But we aren't ...

People like to compare him to AP thus far, or at least the main stream does. But we can look at the numbers for a guy like gurley by comparing him to AP. Now gurley MIGHT be better than AP, but he is touted as a pure runner, so that's who we can compare him to. Note that these stats are for PPR formats. If you play standard, it's Gurley without question. While AP has been nothing short of fantastic most would assume over his hall of fame career thus far, he has only been the #1 fantasy ppr RB ONCE. The guys that often are past him on the charts and end up being the #1 RBs in fantasy football are guys that consistently catch the ball. Running and receiving threats. Going back to 2007, the vast majority of #1 RBs have been guys with 50+ catches. We have Brian Westbrook, Forte, CJ2K(he did have 50 catches on top of his 2k yds), Arian foster(also the top 3 this year all had 60+ catches), Ray Rice, AP (2k yds + 40+ catches, 0 TDs receiving though, probably should have had more points!), JC, Bell (top 3 all had 50+ receptions), and this year Freeman(who had 72 receptions). Yes we can go through the years and break down each games, but total points are total points.

With that said if you are in a ppr format you have to consider David Johnson because of the style in which he plays. He has the potential and demonstrated briefly that he can be a true 3 down-all purpose back, which in PPR is who scores the most points year in and year out. Granted the hype train is rolling a bit too strong for my liking, this IS a very valid question. I'm not shopping either back, but I can say with 100% certainty, Gurley has hands down given me the best offers on the table. The facts are on the table though, most people would take Gurley, his ADP is higher. Also, you can't short sell an offense, DJ is hands down in a better situation(assuming bruce arians doesn't bruce arians him). IF the rams can get a qb to take some heat off Gurley, he should have even better days ahead of him. But situation and offensive scheme you can't discount when valuing a player.

In 2013 I'm sure many people had the same questions about Bell, with his decent play to end the season. Some owners probably sold and some owners are now laughing as they have the #1 dynasty RB. With that said what makes david johnson different than leveon bell? The fact that david johnson was actually better? Bell averaged 3.5 YPC, 8 tds rushing and 45 receptions for 408 and no tds. DJ averaged 4.6 YPC the same number of touchdowns, 35 receptions for 455 yds and 4 touchdowns. Will he be as good as Bell who the heck knows, thats what makes dynasty so much fun. Half of us will be laughing as we kept a top 5 asset, or the other half will be laughing in our face because we are dumb. Only time will tell.

Well said

[Prickler]

If DJ can keep it up through the playoffs I'd have a hard time not choosing him in PPR.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[KMA]

He has been largely invisible his past two games.

[Phaded]

He has been largely invisible his past two games.

Last night still would be just shy of 14 points in PPR.

And its not like Gurley had stretches where he was irrelevant.. Right? lol

[KMA]

He has been largely invisible his past two games.

Last night still would be just shy of 14 points in PPR.

And its not like Gurley had stretches where he was irrelevant.. Right? lol

Exactly the response I was expecting. Sadly, Gurley doesnt have the same offense or personnel. David Johnsons lack of production is bothersome for those who think he is the next best thing. Looks average to me. At least lately.

[Phaded]

...and what other response could you have been expecting in a thread that is literally about Gurley or DJ? Seems a little redundant to make that observation.

If 14 PPR points in a game is when he is "invisible" - I'll take it everytime over the very low floor that Gurley offers.

The Cardinals offense as a whole was pretty stagnant in that game - but DJ came up with plays when it mattered.

[gallopingghost]

Palmer was off all game and misfired to an open DJ in the end zone that would have been an easy TD. Later DJ made a great catch in traffic on a pass that was behind him to convert a huge first down in crunch time. Johnson's ability in the passing game is undeniable and makes him a ppr RB1 next year imo. and while he isnt the pure running talent gurley is dj is not bad and dj has the athletic profile to excel in one of the best offenses in football as long as he continues to get at least passing down and red zone work. I see no reason to believe he wont get that with a very real chance he is the bellcow next season.

Some are probably too high on DJ's current value in dynasty and there are some who are too quick to dismiss him in spite of the evidence which suggests he could be an RB1 next season. As should Gurley. I will gladly take them both!

[operwapitsai]

Guys. DJ had one good game, one good run.

Kind of reminds me of the Ameer Abdullah hype after his big game/run.


God I wish I had some shares of DJ to sell off right now.

DJ had more than one good game and certainly more than one good run. Come on give the guy a little credit for what he did over a four-game stretch since taking over the job not to mention the plays he made in the passing game and return game throughout the year in a limited role to pile up 12 TDs. As a rookie. If you want to label him a sell that is fine. I understand. But acting like he has done nothing this year outside of one game and one run is more ridiculous than comparing him to Gurley imo

Fair enough points here. I just dont really see the consistent, long term talent with him.
However, you do make a point about it being more ridiculous to not like what DJ did outside of that one game, even more so than comparing him to Gurley.

No, you cant just cut out a guys best game to make a point against him but...
Lets just say we cut that 40+ point game in half, to a respectable ~20 point game. He drops almost to the RB3 category in PPG. Not something im looking to invest heavily in considering the high powered offense he is in.

Yes it was a great game by DJ and a respectable season, too. I just think we are giving his entire season a bit too much credit as it was heavily skewed by 1 game.

[captain caveman]

Gurley on sheer volume alone.....guy is going to see at least 20 touches a game. He is one of those rare every down backs that will also dominate the goal line. He has a less than stellar cast of back-up rb's behind him too. Don't get me wrong as I feel Johnson has a bright future too but he is not in the same situation as Gurley. The only other back I would consider in the same boat is Bell who I would rank #1, then Gurley at #2, then there is a decent gap to #3.

[Gametime675]

Gurley on sheer volume alone.....guy is going to see at least 20 touches a game. He is one of those rare every down backs that will also dominate the goal line. He has a less than stellar cast of back-up rb's behind him too. Don't get me wrong as I feel Johnson has a bright future too but he is not in the same situation as Gurley. The only other back I would consider in the same boat is Bell who I would rank #1, then Gurley at #2, then there is a decent gap to #3.

Volume is nice but 20+ carries for Gurley is worth a lot less than 15+ carries and 5+ targets for David Johnson which isn't a crazy projection. David Johnson was getting all the goal line work BEFORE he was the starter - he's 25lb+ heavier than Ellington/CJ. Granted, it's still a risk that Arians doesn't see the talent but I think at this point there's no going back. If you 100% knew that DJ was getting 20+ touches/game (carries+targets) then I absolutely take him over Gurley for next year and likely the next 3 years.

[Parker8]

Gurley and it really is not close for me.

Anyone on the DJ band wagon is assuming the team is not bringing back Chris Johnson and just benching Ellington... That's a lot more risk than Gurley's guaranteed workhorse role. Not to mention he is "in a vacuum" better.