Falcons running back Todd Gurley, who will wear jersey No. 21, believes he will fit nicely into his new team's offensive scheme.
“It’s a similar style to what I’ve been playing with the Rams, so I definitely feel like (the scheme) was a good fit for me,” Gurley said on Friday during a conference call from Los Angeles. “That’s why I was able to sign with the Falcons. I’m super excited to be able to come over and help out as much as possible for sure.”
The Falcons ran more inside-zone scheme and tried to run outside power runs under offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter in 2019, his first season back with the team. The Falcons average 85.1 yards rushing per game, 30th in the league.
The team parted ways running back Devonta Freeman and signed Gurley, the former Georgia Bulldog, to a $6 million deal in free agency.
The Falcons are hoping that Gurley, 25, can put some pop back in the rushing attack.
Koetter has been an offensive coordinator for 10 seasons in the NFL. He was the OC in Jacksonville (2007-2011), Atlanta (2012 to 2014), Tampa Bay (2015) and back in Atlanta last season.
Overall, Koetter’s offenses have finished in the top 10 four times and in the top 16 in the league (the top half of the league) in eight of 10 seasons.
Koetter’s rushing attacks have finished in the top 10 in three of 10 seasons and in the top 16 in five of 10.
Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew led the league is rushing with 1,606 yards in 2011.
Jacksonville’s Fred Taylor rushed for 1,202 yards in 2007, while Jones-Drew rushed for 1,391 in 2009 and 1,324 in 2010. Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin rushed for 1,402 yards in 2015.
In four seasons with Matt Ryan as his quarterback, Koetter has not had a 1,000-yard running back.
Gurley has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in three of his five seasons in the league and won the league’s offensive player of the year award after the 2017 season.
Overall, Gurley has rushed 1,265 times for 5,404 yards and 58 touchdowns.
Gurley, after not rushing for 1,000 yards last season, believes he can return to form with the Falcons.
“It’s was really just like perfect timing just as far as how everything fell in place,” Gurley said. “I just felt like this was the best fit for me. This is where I felt comfortable. I felt like they can help me as much as I can help them.”
» MARK BRADLEY: Temper your expectations for Gurley
Gurley suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in college. He appeared to slow down during the Rams’ run to the Super Bowl in the 2018 season.
He believes the Falcons will come up with a training schedule that will work for him and his knee.
“The way life is going right now everybody is on load management,” Gurley said. “There isn’t much football that we can do right now until training camp. It’s really just focusing on working out. Once everything calms down, I’ll be able to talk with the Falcons and we’ll be able to go over a plan.
“I trust in this staff. I wouldn’t have signed here if I didn’t. That’s something that we can talk about going into camp or whenever.”
Gurley signed his contract on Thursday, but will take his official physical later.
“No sir,” Gurley said when asked if he was concerned about passing the physical. “I played in 15 out of 16 games. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have signed me if they were concerned.”
Gurley averaged 3.8 yards per carry last season and put up career lows in carries (223) and yards (857). The Falcons are hoping that Gurley can be an improvement over Freeman, who rushed for 656 yards on 184 carries last season.
At Georgia, Gurley finished his career ranked second in school history in career touchdowns (44), all-purpose yards (4,322) and rushing yards (3,285). He also held the UGA record for average yards per carry in his career (6.44), edging out Charley Trippi (6.42).
“We’re pumped that Todd is here,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We certainly feel fortunate to add Todd to the group. His history speaks for itself in terms of his style and his play.”
The Falcons addressed the injury concern in contract negotiations.
“We look closely at it,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We have language in our contracts that are going to protect us and the player. If the player comes in and has an issue that he might not pass a physical, that’s something that we'll address then.”
Because of the NFL rules in place during the coronavirus pandemic, team doctors could not fly to Los Angeles to conduct the physical.
Normally, the free agent could have come to the team facility to take his physical and then sign his contract.
“He really takes care of his body well, and he’ll continue to work on it,” Dimitroff said. “We’ll continue to be very mindful about what we are dealing with, and we feel very comfortable with it.”
Gurley has averaged 252 carries over his first five seasons in the league.
“He’s a hard-charging runner and he’s an excellent football player, and we are counting on him to be an excellent football player for us,” Dimitroff said.
The Falcons have selected a running back in four of the past five drafts. Signing Gurley won’t preclude them from drafting another one this year.
“We’re a big mix-up team,” Dimitroff said. “We think that’s a very important part of making sure that we rotate our guys through there. They all come to the table with different positives and different traits, of course, and I would not — I’m a big believer in making sure that you have the mix. ... It’s not meaning that we won’t look for another back in the draft that potentially has speed. That’s something we’ll continue to look at.”
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