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KC Joyner, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Why Gurley will win rookie of the year

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Running backs used to dominate the offensive rookie of the year (OROY) award. From 1967 to 2007, players at this position won this honor 31 out of a possible 41 times. That trend has changed in recent seasons, as running backs have been chosen for only one of the past seven OROY awards (Eddie Lacy, 2013).

With the combined volume of quality pass-catchers and quarterbacks in the 2015 rookie class, it might seem that ball carriers are going to be shut out of this honor once again, but Todd Gurley should have something to say about that. Even though he could miss the start of the season due to his recovery from a torn ACL, Gurley is my pick to win the offensive rookie of the year award for the 2015 season. Let's take a look at the several positive factors in his favor.

Gurley has elite breakaway ability

According to ESPN Stats & Information, last season Gurley led all Power 5 running backs in percentage of rushes of 10 or more yards in carries against Power 5 teams (minimum 100 carries to qualify). His 25.6 percent mark in this category made him one of only two running backs to top the 20 percent bar (Dalvin Cook of Florida State being the other, at 21 percent). This was not an anomaly for Gurley, as he ranked sixth in this category in 2013 (19.8 percent).

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