(USA Today) -- The most important moment of Todd Gurley's pre-draft journey has nearly arrived.
After months of being a spectator in so many key aspects of the NFL's exhaustive interview process, he will finally hop onto a medical examination table Friday in Indianapolis to let dozens of doctors grab at his leg during the league's official medical recheck.
It will be the first time team physicians will be able to evaluate Gurley's surgically repaired left knee after his own doctor — renowned orthopedist James Andrews — decided Gurley wasn't ready to be assessed at February's scouting combine.
Gurley, who will also undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam at the recheck, had surgery in November after a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended his final season at the University of Georgia.
"I would guess that anybody that has him high on their board is going to have their doctor there," former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian, now an analyst with ESPN, said.
"I'm sure everybody will be scrutinizing the results. They'll all make their own decisions as to how far along the timeline he is. That decision, in my experience, rests with the docs."
If the exams show that Gurley, who tore the ACL against Auburn on Nov. 15 and had surgery 10 days later, is on schedule, there is an excellent chance he will be the first running back selected in the draft later this month. The only question then would be how high he goes.
But should the recheck reveal any sort of unexpected damage or hints of a degenerative disease, his draft stock could tumble.
Gurley has been making the pre-draft rounds — he's visited the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions — but his physical progress has remained a mystery. He couldn't participate in on-field drills at the combine and was still sidelined during Georgia's March 18 pro day.
Andrews' initial timeline for Gurley's recovery was six to nine months, a time frame that would mean he'd be on the field in time for the NFL's regular-season opener in September.
Still, this spring has been an exercise in patience.
"You want to be out there with the guys. You're happy for the guys who are out there competing, but at the end of the day, you want to see yourself competing with those guys because that's what the combine is all about — just going out there, doing the workouts and showing the coaches what you can do," Gurley said at the combine.
He is hardly the first player to enter the draft on the heels of a major injury, and he isn't the only potential first rounder in this class currently rehabbing instead of working out for teams. Texas A&M tackle Cedric Ogbuehi tore his ACL in the Aggies' January bowl game, putting him two months behind Gurley's rehab schedule.
Marcus Lattimore can sympathize with any frustration or impatience those players might be feeling.
In 2012, Lattimore suffered a gruesome injury — he tore every knee ligament as well as his calf and hamstring muscles — during his final season at the University of South Carolina. He went from Heisman Trophy candidate and virtual first-round lock to a major NFL question mark.
"It was stressful, and it was tough seeing all the other guys do their pro days and do the combine," Lattimore told USA TODAY Sports.
The San Francisco 49ers took a shot on Lattimore in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, but he never played a down in the NFL.
The key for Gurley, Lattimore said, is to make sure he and his agent keep teams completely in the loop about his recovery. Even if he can't run the 40 or go through position drills, there are other ways to show his progress.
"Send out film of you doing single-leg squats, doing something — jogging, anything. Just put it in the teams' minds that you can overcome this and make sure that there is nothing outside that can hurt your draft stock," Lattimore said.
Lattimore hasn't spoken directly to Gurley. But as a fellow Southeastern Conference running back who also rehabilitated at Andrews' facility in Pensacola, Fla., he is trying to keep tabs on Gurley from afar. Lattimore said he'd be surprised if Gurley, who had a much less-complicated operation, suffers any setbacks.
Though Lattimore never managed to get healthy enough to play in the pros, there are more than enough success stories to suggest Gurley could still become a star.
Despite being drafted in the first round by the Buffalo Bills, Willis McGahee sat out his rookie year in 2003 after being injured in his final college game. He'd go on to rush for more than 8,000 career yards. Frank Gore, a former Miami Hurricane like McGahee, suffered two torn ACLs in college but is now heading into his 11th NFL season with 11,073 rushing yards, more than any active player except Steven Jackson.
Gurley can also refer to recent examples of NFL players returning in less than nine months from ACL reconstruction. The Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson won the league's MVP award in 2012, despite being hurt in the final month of the 2011 campaign. A pair of Denver Broncos, cornerback Chris Harris and linebacker Von Miller, were Pro Bowlers in 2014, less than a year after their late-season injuries.
"By the time the season starts, (Gurley) will be right back and ready to go. It's a major surgery, but it's not as devastating as you'd think. Mentally, you take it harder than it really is, in my opinion," Miller told USA TODAY Sports.
"It is scary. You think about your career and your livelihood and all the things you want to accomplish. You want to put yourself in a great situation to achieve all those goals. ACL surgery doesn't increase the odds of getting all that stuff. But once you get it out of the way and have the right mindset, you can do it."
