Todd Gurley’s Perfect Fantasy Usage Disappears in Strange Playoff Run

Todd Gurley's final two games were a complete mystery and could impact his 2019 fantasy outlook.

Fantasy’s 2017 MVP and our clear cut No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft lived up to the hype last season by posting the most points at his position — even though he missed the final two games due to a knee injury. Most thought Todd Gurley would benefit from the Rams’ first round bye. However, Gurley was unable to do much of anything during their playoff run, finishing with a measly 45 yards and 14 carries during the team’s two most important games of the season. What’s even more concerning was the resurgence of CJ Anderson, who showed up out of nowhere and out-carried Gurley 46-to-30 during the playoffs. With the Rams expecting to retain Anderson in free agency, Gurley’s once elite fantasy football status is now in serious doubt for the 2019 season.

The Rams and Gurley himself continued to state throughout the playoffs that his knee injury from the tail end of the regular season was not a correlating factor to his lack of involvement in the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. Instead, McVay put it on his game plan.

“We just didn’t get a lot of attempts off,” McVay said, via ESPN.com. “So that really ended up being a big result of what ended up happening where neither Todd nor C.J. [Anderson] got involved.”

But with the Patriots slow linebackers having issues covering running backs throughout the season, most thought Gurley would be in for a big game — especially after McVay said he would be heavily involved after a quiet game against the Saints.

Keep tabs on CJA and guard Rodger Saffold’s impending free agencies, Andrew Whitworth‘s retirement status, and Gurley’s potential placement on the trading block as three major offseason storylines coming out of LA — which could severely impact Gurley’s 2019 fantasy outlook. He remains likely to be a monster worthy of Top-Three fantasy consideration. Still, what was a no-brainer, locked-in No.1 pick just a month or two ago, now comes with some must-monitor warts.

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