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Todd Gurley’s Refusal of Full Medical Evaluation Will Not Impact His Draft Stock

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By @bradberreman24

Todd Gurley, NFL Combine, 2015 NFL Draft

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The 2015 NFL Combine is in full-swing now, and one of the notable items to come out of the event on Friday is Georgia running back Todd Gurley’s reported refusal to allow doctors to examine his surgically repaired knee. Gurley suffered a torn left ACL in November, in his first game back from a suspension related to accepting money for autographs, but he is still one of the top options in what is considered a deep group of running backs this year.

Refusing a full medical evaluation is surely noteworthy, and unprecedented to the best of my knowledge, but Bryan Broaddus of Dallas Cowboys.com has quickly reported that NFL teams are not overly concerned about Gurley’s refusal to have his knee examined at this point. His medical re-evaluation in April, back in Indianapolis, should provide a clearer picture of Gurley’s recovery for teams that have interest in him. Georgia’s Pro Day on Mar. 18 and individual team visits, from a medical perspective primarily, will still be very important to Gurley’s draft stock.

Barring a real lack of progress as he works his way back to full strength post-surgery, Gurley could still be a late first-round pick. If he does fall a bit, he will surely go off the board sometime in the second round based on talent level and game tape.

Gurley’s refusal to allow his knee to be looked at this week could almost have been expected, since he is just three months removed from surgery and there are multiple suggestions that doctors are fairly rough when taking a closer look at noted injuries. Any potential to aggravate the injury, and derail his rehab process from here on out, should absolutely have been avoided at all costs.

It’s possible Gurley refused to allow his knee to be examined on the advise of his agent, since it’s fairly unbelievable to think he’d have done so strictly on his own. It might be better in the big picture to refuse a complete Combine physical, rather than allow it with the likelihood of a poor evaluation, so in that context I don’t blame Gurley and his camp for not wanting to invite a medical red flag as the pre-draft process continues.

Gurley was given a 6-to-9 month recovery timetable after his knee surgery, which makes it possible that he will be ready for the start of training camp.  Even if he is not at full strength for the first day of camp, any team that drafts Gurley will want him ready for Week 1 and he can still make a significant impact during his rookie season.

Brad Berreman is a Columnist/Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Related Article:

2015 NFL Draft Combine Profile: Georgia RB Todd Gurley

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