Must Start Player Of The Week: Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley
Must Start Player Of The Week: Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley
Terms like ‘can’t-miss’ and ‘must-start’ tend to be thrown around rather easily. Most of the time, the intent is not to deceive or just point out the obvious. No, the point is to give some sort of indication that the odds are heavily in favor of the player in question having an above average daily fantasy day.
The chances are good that Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley is going to have just such a day in Saturday Night’s AFC Wildcard Game.
Why?
All you need to do is look at his body of work to see he’s a must-start this week. He finished the season with over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 19 total touchdowns. He rushed for 100+ yards six times and had 100+ total yards in all but two games.
In his last three games, he scored eight total touchdowns, ran for 364 yards and had 16 receptions for 225 yards. If you’re afraid he may be worn out from being overused, he had last week off.
He’s rested.
But what about Atlanta’s defense?
The Falcons don’t have a bad defense. Overall, they ranked ninth in total yards/game allowed this year (318.4) and ninth in rushing yards/game allowed (104.1). They were tough against the pass as well (12th; 214 yards/game).
If the Falcons can limit the Rams passing game and keep Jared Goff from getting in sync with his receivers, it may be easier to slow down or even stop Gurley. They haven’t allowed a single rusher to gain more than 59 yards the last four weeks.
So—start him?
Absolutely! The Falcons run defense has played well the last few weeks, but they haven’t faced someone of Gurley’s caliber, or someone who is used quite like the Rams use Gurley. Alvin Kamara is the only one that comes close, but he was injured in one game and shares time with Mark Ingram.
He’ll be just fine for the Rams and for your daily fantasy team this week.
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