Gurley INACTIVE

Rams RB Todd Gurley is "feeling great," HC Sean McVay said. "I think, you know, one of the things about Todd is (he's a) great competitor," McVay added. "I think he's earned the right to be able to have the plan that we had this offseason. Can't wait to get him back going. I know he's ready to go." It's been all doom and gloom regarding Gurley's knee this offseason, but we'll start to get a better idea of his status when Rams training camp opens next weekend. Gurley's ADP has dipped into the middle of Round 2.

Rams RB Todd Gurley expressed optimism about his troublesome knee in an interview with the NFL Network on Tuesday. "It's good, man. It's good," he said. "I'm just like, hey, we're going to find out in training camp, you know? Once training camp comes, you've got the preseason, but you don't have a lot in preseason." Players, of course, are almost always over-optimistic about injuries. But this still qualifies as the most positive piece on Gurley's status this offseason. He'll be the most closely watched player in training camp, and we'll hopefully have a better idea of his 2019 outlook by the time we get to late August.

Todd Gurley's personal trainer, Travelle Gaines, recently confirmed that arthritis is at play in the RB's bothersome knee. Gaines told CBS Sports: “Everybody knew when Todd came out of Georgia that there would be some kind of arthritic component to his knee, which is part of every surgery whether it’s a shoulder, a knee, an ankle. He’s now at the year-five mark, all we’re doing is managing that. If we can pound him less in the offseason while keeping his weight down, working on his strength, working on his agility in short areas, that’s going to give him a better chance to be healthy Weeks 14 through 17 when they really count.” Gaines said he's trying to help Gurley shed 6 pounds and get down from 10% body fat to 7%. He says it's to help Gurley's quickness and not out of a need to relieve stress on the knee. Of course, Gaines isn't on L.A.'s coaching staff and wouldn't necessarily know the team's plan for its star RB. Gaines' confirmation of an earlier report arthritis report also doesn't necessarily hurt or help Gurley's 2019 fantasy outlook. We're still waiting to see how he looks this summer and how the Rams plan to deploy him.

The Rams recognize that RB Todd Gurley's days as a workhorse are over, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "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. "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." At this point, it's obvious that Gurley's volume will decline in 2019. What we don't yet know is how much it'll decline. Gurley averaged 22.9 touches per game in 2017 and 22.5 last year. We currently have him projected for 19.6 touches per game this season. That's subject to change, of course. We'll continue to monitor this situation and adjust Gurley's projections throughout the summer.

A couple of big-time NFL insiders -- Jay Glazer and Michael Lombardi -- used the same word when discussing Rams RB Todd Gurley's knee this weekend: "concern." Wrote Glazer: "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." And Lombardi: "Gurley's knee was a medical concern coming out of Georgia, most of the NFL was in shock when the Rams gave him that huge deal on his second contract, not because of talent, rather because of his knee." The left knee that gave Gurley trouble late last season is the same knee in which he tore the ACL in at Georgia back in 2014. The Rams admitted earlier this offseason that they're considering scaling back Gurley's workload going forward -- and that only seems more likely after they brought back Malcolm Brown and used a 3rd-round pick to add Darrell Henderson. We'll hopefully have a better idea of Gurley's status when we get into the heart of fantasy drafting season in late August. But for now, he looks like the biggest risk/reward pick in your draft. We just bumped Gurley down (and Henderson up) the RB rankings.