{"id":59692,"date":"2019-03-02T10:10:53","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T15:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=59692"},"modified":"2019-03-02T10:18:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T15:18:57","slug":"fantasy-football-dont-draft-todd-gurley-in-the-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/03\/02\/fantasy-football-dont-draft-todd-gurley-in-the-first-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football: Don\u2019t Draft Todd Gurley In the First Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps the biggest off-season storyline in the NFL landscape concerns <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GurlTo01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Todd Gurley<\/a><\/strong> and his mysterious knee injury. After serving as the unquestioned lead back throughout the majority of the 2018 season, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/rams\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Rams<\/a> superstar split carries with journeyman <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/A\/AndeC.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">C.J. Anderson<\/a><\/strong> throughout the postseason run. The Rams didn\u2019t list Gurley on the injury report, yet they still chose to use a committee approach down the final stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Almost a month after the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2019\/02\/03\/new-england-patriots-win-super-bowl-liii-tom-brady-first-player-nfl-history-win-six-super-bowls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Super Bowl<\/a>, we finally know more about Gurley\u2019s injury. According to <strong>Jeff Howe<\/strong> of <em>The Athletic, <\/em>Gurley has arthritis in his knee. This explains his strange usage\u00a0and should scare fantasy football players away from taking him over guys like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/E\/ElliEz00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ezekiel Elliott<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BarkSa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saquon Barkley<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rams running back Todd Gurley has arthritis in his knee, according to a source. Helps explain his limited usage in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeffphowe\/status\/1101847333715759104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Fantasy Football: Todd Gurley Not a First-Round Pick<\/h1>\n<p>Injuries are inevitable in football, so trying to prepare against random, freak injuries is a fruitless effort. However, some players are more injury-prone than others thanks to pre-existing conditions in their respective bodies. Basically, when evaluating an injury, the first question should be whether this is a systemic injury or a one-time freak incident.<\/p>\n<p>In Gurley\u2019s case, arthritis is a systemic injury. Howe didn\u2019t call out a specific type of arthritis, so it&#8217;s time to do some research.\u00a0The three most common knee-based arthritis diagnosis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and posttraumatic arthritis. Given a full disclaimer that I don\u2019t have a medical degree, Gurley most likely has posttraumatic arthritis, which develops after a previous injury to the knee. Gurley injured his knee late in 2018 and also tore his ACL back in college, so he has the prior history.<\/p>\n<p>While arthritis has no official cure, this isn\u2019t a career-ending injury for Gurley. The Rams have options to minimize the pain and could even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/rams-may-consider-drastic-option-if-todd-gurleys-knee-regresses-during-offseason\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consider stem cell treatment options<\/a> as a worst-case scenario. Nobody knows how healthy Gurley will be at the start of the 2019 season, but it doesn\u2019t really matter. This injury ensured that Gurley should not be a first-round pick in your upcoming fantasy drafts.<\/p>\n<h2>A No-Win Situation<\/h2>\n<p>As previously mentioned, there\u2019s no known cure for arthritis. The Rams and Gurley can minimize its\u2019 effects using a variety of treatments, but the fact remains that Gurley\u2019s knee will never be 100% healthy. From the perspective of the Los Angeles Rams, they can either ride Gurley into the ground and hope his body holds up, or try to preserve him for the entirety of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Either option is bad news for fantasy owners. Part of the reason Gurley was such a great fantasy asset is that he was the unquestioned bell cow back in the Los Angeles backfield. Throughout the first 14 weeks of the season, Gurley never played in fewer than 68% of the snaps. He only played less than 75% of snaps one time, and that was in a 34-0 blowout victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As fantastic as Gurley was for your fantasy team, this usage actually hurt the Los Angeles Rams in the long run. By the time the postseason rolled around, Gurley was a broken down shell of himself. In the last two games of the season, Gurley ran for just 45 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.<\/p>\n<p>The Rams are in win-now mode and will do everything they can to take home a title while <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GoffJa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jared Goff<\/a><\/strong> is still on his rookie contract. The smart thing for the Rams to do is to get another back to complement Gurley and split snaps. Doing this would increase Gurley\u2019s chances of entering the postseason with a clean bill of health, as his knees clearly aren\u2019t capable of taking on a full 16-game schedule as the unquestioned starter.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the Rams don\u2019t change up their backfield, Gurley won\u2019t deliver a full 16-game slate of games. The running back broke down in Week 14 of this season, and he still has the injury which caused him to miss so much time in the first place. Gurley simply cannot survive a full season as the bell cow back, and you should expect him to miss a good amount of time in 2019 if he&#8217;s given the same workload. He\u2019s still a good piece to have on your fantasy roster, but there are better players you can get in the first round.<\/p>\n<h2>Last Word on Todd Gurley in Fantasy Football<\/h2>\n<p>Todd Gurley was the best fantasy running back when healthy last year, but his 2019 fortunes are not looking good. Jeff Howe reported that Gurley has arthritis in his left knee, meaning that the talented running back will never truly be 100% for the rest of his career.<\/p>\n<p>From a team-building standpoint, the Rams will need to adjust their offensive strategy. Los Angeles has to know that Gurley cannot be the\u00a0unquestioned workhorse if they want him healthy heading into the postseason. In order to increase his odds of staying healthy, they\u2019ll add another capable running back who will eat into Gurley\u2019s touches.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is to say that Gurley has no fantasy relevance. Even with an injured knee, Gurley is still a dangerous player capable of making plays as a runner and a receiver. However, he won\u2019t repeat his 2018 heroics. Right now, expect Gurley to be a low-end RB1 or a high-end RB2 worthy of a second-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"ElO0D8yuQNJJnNMfm-ksgg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1128149884\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ElO0D8yuQNJJnNMfm-ksgg',sig:'ms2kLi2yUZ83GkFSaEWXN8wkz8YSMDUr8o89k3e84Jg=',w:'594px',h:'376px',items:'1128149884',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley has arthritis in his left knee, which is bad news for any and all fantasy football players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":59694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,54,34],"tags":[294,61,192,40,259],"class_list":["post-59692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-editorials","category-rams","tag-fantasy-football","tag-football","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-nfl","tag-todd-gurley"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}