Horrible news for Rams fans, fantasy owners and, of course, Todd Gurley himself.
According to a few reports from some of the NFL’s most well-known “insiders,” the days of Gurley carrying the load in the Los Angeles Rams’ backfield may be over.
Gurley dealt with knee issues throughout the 2018 season. His left knee apparently flared up in week one, and after dealing with it throughout most of the year, the Los Angeles Rams running back was forced to miss the final two games of the regular season.
Gurley made it back in time for the playoffs, but he was clearly not himself — logging just 30 carries over three games, including just 10 in the team’s Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.
Some had hoped that the offseason would give Gurley the chance to fully recuperate, but that hasn’t been the case. Rather, it appears as though things just keep getting worse.
According to The Athletic’s Jay Glazer, there is definitely a lot of “concern” around the former Georgia Bulldog’s left knee:
“It is a concern. The sky isn’t falling but even now, they’re being smart about it. It did swell up on him last year, this is a knee that has had wear and tear. Eventually, you’re going to factor this in especially with them having to sit him down the stretch last year.
“It’s not all doom and gloom, but it is definitely something you have to monitor and be prepared for in case that thing blows up on him again. We already learned that lesson last year. That’s why he isn’t doing any on-field work yet.”
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And not long after that, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport released an absolute bombshell report that suggests Todd Gurley’s days as a workhorse back are over:
“The days of Todd Gurley just being the straight-up, every-down bell cow are probably over, just based on his knee, his age, the position, the amount of carries he’s had,” Rapoport said on Monday’s edition on NFL Total Access. “It’s probably not going to be like that, which by the way is maybe why the Rams drafted a running back in the third round, someone they really like a lot. This is a team that is clearly ready to spread the ball around.
“Of course, Gurley’s knee, the wear and tear on that knee, the surgically repaired knee, is something that everyone knows has been concerning to the team for some time. All they really want is for Gurley to come back when the season begins when it’s really time to go to be 100 percent. What they don’t want is to have all those questions they had leading up the Super Bowl repeat before Week 1.”
At 24-years-of-age, Gurley is only entering his fifth season. And he had just asserted himself as the most dominant running back in the game. After taking home Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2017, Gurley racked up a ridiculous 1,831 total yards and 21 total touchdowns in 2018, despite missing two games and playing on a bum knee during the other 14 contests.
It will be interesting to see how the Rams go about managing Gurley’s workload moving forward.
One thing I will suggest is if you own him in your fantasy league, you may want to try and deal him to one of your buddies before showing them this report.
