Teams looking at Todd Gurley got some good news today when, after a pair of medical rechecks, doctors declared the Georgia running back good to go for this year’s draft.
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“Good to go” means there should be no concern about Gurley’s knee after last year’s season-ending ACL tear. Ian Rapoport says the hope is that Gurley will be ready to return in time for training camp.
Gurley was likely set to be taken in the first round regardless of this news, but the green light from doctors does give teams a little more reassurance that they won’t be drafting a broken player.
The Vikings of course have been mentioned in connection with Gurley, a player some have thought might slide out of the first round or farther as a result of his medical red flags.
But the chances of Gurley sliding to a place where the Vikings might consider taking him are getting more remote with each passing day and each medical green light.
The only way I could see the Vikings targeting Gurley with their #11 overall pick is if they deal Adrian Peterson ahead of the draft. Even if the Vikes do trade Peterson, there’s still a decent chance they would wait until the second or third to target Peterson’s replacement.
A player like Jay Ajayi might be attractive to the Vikings as a Peterson replacement, and he might still be available in the third. Ameer Abdullah, Duke Johnson and David Johnson are more players whose names seem to pop up whenever the running back position is discussed by Vikings draft observers.
If the Vikings do for some reason get a chance at Gurley, at least they have the assurance of knowing his knee should not be a problem. And keep in mind the great experience trainer Eric Sugarman has at working with players who’ve had to come back from such an injury.
If nothing else, Adrian Peterson’s own ACL comeback provided Sugarman with a ton of valuable info about how to help a player in that position.
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