Gurley limited Tuesday

When asked at the beginning of the offseason program this week about his knee, Rams RB Todd Gurley managed only cautious optimism to the Los Angeles Times: "I'm feeling pretty good. All I can worry about is how I'm feeling right now. I don't know how I'm going to be feeling six months from now. Just trying to make sure I feel the best when the season comes." We've all seen/heard countless examples of athletes erring on the side of confidence with their recovering body parts. That makes this response from Gurley seem fairly worrisome. If he can't even muster an "I'm feeling great" in April, it's tough to know what we can expect come October. Gurley's upside certainly remains worth a 1st-round draft slot until something more substantial comes out. (The Rams have declined to specify his knee ailment.) But Gurley belongs in the middle of the round for early drafting, rather than near the top. Backup Malcolm Brown also carries big handcuff upside into 2019 fantasy football drafts. Count on this being the most closely tracked fantasy situation of the year.

Rams GM Les Snead said at the Combine that his team is considering scaling back RB Todd Gurley's workload due to concerns over his troublesome left knee. "There's an element of wear and tear and I think we have to determine in probably two stages: are we going to give him the amount of load that he's had in the past or are we going to lessen that load to let's say keep him fresher for the season and for the seasons beyond," Snead said. The Rams backfield, of course, devolved into a committee late last year with Gurley and C.J. Anderson. Anderson is now a free agent, so we'll see whether L.A. brings him back or adds another RB who can handle significant work. Gurley remains a clear-cut RB1 heading into 2019, but RBs Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott look like safer bets at the top of drafts right now.

A source tells NFL Network's Steve Wyche that Rams RB Todd Gurley's knee was a "wear-and-tear issue." The reports of what was ailing Gurley late in the year have been all over the place -- and we'll probably never know exactly what was wrong. The trouble was with the same knee in which Gurley tore the ACL in at Georgia back in 2014. And it's worth noting that he's racked up 1,281 touches over 4 NFL seasons -- an average of 320 per year. He turns just 25 in August, though, so we shouldn't need to worry about him breaking down yet. Still, Gurley will be 1 of the most interesting decision points in the 1st round of 2019 fantasy drafts. His ADP is sitting at 1.03 in February FFPC drafts.

Rams RB Todd Gurley (knee) is not listed on the final injury report. He practiced all week, including a full workout on Friday. "He looks like Todd," HC Sean McVay said after Friday's workout. "He looks like the explosive, great back that we're used to seeing." Los Angeles wisely played it safe with Gurley, who hasn't played in almost a month. McVay suggested that Gurley might cede some work to C.J. Anderson against the Cowboys on Saturday, but we'd expect him to see something close to his normal workload.

Rams RB Todd Gurley said his injured knee is "feeling better" on Thursday. "Just still doing stuff for my knee," he added. "I've been able to do a lot more this week. It's been reacting pretty good." Gurley also said that he'd like to get a couple of practices in next week prior to the Rams' playoff opener. We'll get the team's 1st practice report on Tuesday.