It's not easy to buy a fantasy stock from someone who isn't even playing yet. St. Louis Rams running back Todd Gurley still hasn't played and he's not even officially a go for Week 1 to start the season. He is still not 100 percent back from his ACL tear last year at the University of Georgia.
Fantasy football draft strategy: Should owners have faith in rookie Todd Gurley?
Now that Todd Gurley is progressing from his ACL tear and is in practice, is it time for fantasy football owners to grab him?
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That said, things are looking good for him. He has been doing some blitz-pickup drills, team workouts, and there really hasn’t been a negative report in about four weeks. As encouraging as this sounds, there’s no way he hits the ground running and the Rams will limit his snap count for several weeks -- he might not be let loose until the Week 6 bye. Even with the slow start, fantasy football championships are not won in Week 1-5. If Gurley can get the all clear, it might not be long until he’s a top-15 running back.
So when do you pounce if you want Gurley? Well, he's currently going off the board at No. 56 and is the 26th back off the board. He's going behind guys like Andre Ellington and Jonathan Stewart, who both are massive injury risks, as well.
As for the trend side of things, Gurley isn’t really in demand yet. Here’s his ADP graph from Fantasy Football Calculator:
With the trending down ADP, that usually means you don’t have to jump up higher than 50 to get him. If all the other stud backs are gone, Gurley could be a difference maker.
