The St. Louis Rams selected Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and are hoping that he can get on the field early on this season. There was some concern about him after his junior season at Georgia ended with a torn ACL, and he is still recovering from it. According to a report from Nick Wagoner, Gurley was on the field for individual drills but there is still no timetable for his return.
#Rams RB Todd Gurley did some individual drills. Says he’s excited to be doing football activities again. No timetable for full return.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) July 31, 2015
Hearing this news should get the Rams’ organization and fan base even more excited for the upcoming season. He has the talent and potential to completely change the offensive game plan, and could very well make a deadly duo alongside of Nick Foles if he can rebound from his disappointing season last year.
During his 2014 season with the Bulldogs, Gurley ended up carrying the football 123 times for 911 yards and nine touchdowns. He ended the season with a 7.4 yards per carry average, which is above average in a big way. Georgia’s offense completely revolved around him, and there is no question that he is capable of being a workhorse at the NFL level.
Many scouts have compared him to both Marshawn Lynch and Adrian Peterson, which are obviously very favorable comparisons. It shows a bit of how much potential he has in the NFL, and why the Rams are so excited about getting him on the field. This report makes it seem like he has a chance to be ready at some point fairly early on in the 2015 season, although Week 1 might be a bit of a stretch.
At 20 years old, Gurley has a very bright future ahead of him and is going to be one of the cornerstones for the Rams moving forward. Bringing him along slowly is the right decision for this year, but it sounds like he’ll be ready sooner rather than later.
Expect to see him continue adding onto his work load over the next month. He has training camp to get ready for the regular season, but likely won’t see any preseason action. St. Louis is still going to get him back fairly early on in the season, and Tre Mason is more than capable of handling the running back duties until that time rolls around.
