Rams Fans & Fantasy Owners Should Both Be Excited About Latest Todd Gurley Usage Report for Remainder of Season

Todd Gurley was one of the most polarizing players in fantasy this offseason. After finishing as fantasy's RB1 in both 2017 and 2018 (in standard scoring leagues), Gurley had an average draft position (ADP) of RB9 this offseason due to a litany of injury concerns.

Any fantasy owner who took the plunge and drafted Gurley this season has likely been frustrated, as he's been RB12 in standard scoring leagues entering Week 14. A lot of that lack of top-tier production has been caused by the Los Angeles Rams monitoring his usage, but it looks like they're going to finally unleash Gurley down the stretch this year.

From @NFLGameDay: #Browns WR Odell Beckham needs sports hernia surgery, but he'll play today vs. the #Bengals. ... Meanwhile, as the #Rams get ready to unleash Todd Gurley, limiting carries has worked -- He's as fast now as he was in Week 1, based on practice metrics. pic.twitter.com/GvrOOSakgN
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 8, 2019

Todd Gurley Fantasy Football Outlook

In fact, Gurley's touches have already been on the rise. He's seen at least 20 opportunities (carries plus targets) in two of the last three weeks – something he did only twice over the first eight weeks of the season. In those two games, Gurley averaged 124.0 yards from scrimmage per game and scored twice.

If the Rams are actually intent upon increasing Gurley's workload, this could be incredibly impactful for the fantasy playoffs. The Rams' next three opponents (the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers) are all middle-of-the-road rush defenses, per Football Outsiders DVOA metrics.

The magic number for Rams: Todd Gurley at 20 touches.

LA's won 19 of last 20 times Gurley gets 20. They are 27-8 in his career, 3-0 vs #Seahawks, when he gets 20.

But Gurley's had 20 touches just twice in LA's last 17 games. Both are in wins the last 3 weeks. @thenewstribune
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 7, 2019

Gurley checks in at RB13 in our Week 14 fantasy football PPR rankings, and he could be a league-winning player in the fantasy playoffs if he sees a real uptick in his usage.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.