If there’s one running back that might be worth taking in the first round, it’s Todd Gurley coming out of Georgia. Despite the devaluation of the position, the San Diego Chargers would very much like to use their first pick on him.

Gurley has a fantastic blend of strength and breakaway speed, and if it wasn’t for his ACL tear, he would be mentioned as a top 10 or even top 5 pick. His recovery will be check on in Indianapolis on April 17 and 18, two weeks before the draft. It’ll be five months after his surgery, and right now it seems like he’s going to be good to go in 2015 and if injuries don’t get in the way, even better in 2016.

The Chargers do have more needs than just drafting a running back, but with Ryan Mathews, another talented but injury prone player, taking his talents to Philadelphia, missing out on Gurley falling to their 17th pick might be hard to do. There are offensive linemen and defensive linemen they’ve set their sights on, but many believe Gurley is a special talent worth taking, even in the first round.

Whatever happens, as long as there aren’t any serious injury concerns, Gurley isn’t going to fall below the 25th pick. In three seasons with the Bulldogs he ran for 3285 yards (on 510 carries), scoring 36 rushing touchdowns. He also caught six passes for scores and even returned a couple for touchdowns. He was a Freshman All-American in 2012 and if it wasn’t for his injuries in 2013 and 2014, he’d be with a couple more All-American and SEC team mentions.

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