NFL Draft 2015: Profiling Georgia's Todd Gurley

So you want to know about Todd Gurley, huh? Here ya go:

And that really says more than I ever could. Todd Gurley weighs 230 pounds and he moves those pounds with more speed, fluidity, and (to use a scouty term) "suddenness" than the laws of physics and biodynamics should allow.

If you're looking for more objective information, well, things get a little tougher. Perhaps you heard, Gurley missed much of 2014 with a sore writing hand and swollen wallet. As a result his statistics for the season are a gridiron retelling of the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The ending numbers ( 123 rushes, 911 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns) aren't that impressive.

But when he was on the field the young man from Tarboro, North Carolina was perhaps the most dominant player in college football. Against Clemson in the season opener he broke the UGA all-purpose yards record previously held by former New York Giant Rodney Hampton. And embedded in the numbers in that last paragraph was a good clue for anyone looking to do rudimentary math. 911 divided by 123 is 7.41. Todd Gurley averaged 7.41 yards per rush during a (partial) season of major college football, and that's not supposed to happen.

Of course Gurley's season was truncated not only by his own popularity on the autograph circuit, but also by a torn ACL suffered in his return from suspension against Auburn. It was a terrible injury made all the worse by the fact that Gurley could have taken the easy way out and sat the rest of the season, assuring his draft status. Had Todd Gurley not suffered that injury I have no doubt that he would be taken in the top five tonight.

As it stands Gurley's knee has been vetted by NFL medical personnel and pronounced structurally sound, which is not surprising. If you told me Todd gurney's knee regenerated Wolverine-style in a matter of hours after the injury I would not have been a bit surprised. Gurley is about as impressive a physical specimen as I have ever seen on a football field.

But the other thing lost in Gurley's disappointing 2014 season was his status as a team leader. Gurley is famously quiet. I have never seen a guy who hates to be interviewed more than Todd Gurley. I'm pretty sure he would do anything short of undergoing another knee surgery to avoid interviews. Todd Gurley doesn't talk. Todd Gurley scores touchdowns. In that respect, he's both the perfect fit for and the antidote for the modern NFL.