EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Todd Gurley took nearly 20 pre-draft visits with NFL teams, but not one of them was to the St. Louis Rams.
So when the Rams drafted Gurley with the 10th overall pick, making the former Georgia star the first running back to be drafted in the first round since 2012, he wasn't surprised by the pick so much as he was surprised by who was doing the picking.
"I didn't know [this was a possibility]," Gurley said Thursday. "I know what I worked hard for and I had confidence in myself."
The Chargers also took a running back in the first round, trading up with the 49ers to select Melvin Gordon with the 15th overall pick.
It marked the first time that any running backs were drafted in the first round since 2012, when Trent Richardson, Doug Martin and David Wilson all were taken in the opening round.
"It means a lot," Gurley told ESPN shortly after being drafted. "It's been a couple of years, and for me to be the first running back taken, it means a lot."
Tre Mason, a third-round pick last year, led the Rams with 765 yards rushing and averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season. St. Louis' backfield also includes Zac Stacy, who lost his starting job to Mason last season following his outstanding rookie year in 2013.
Stacy, however, plans to ask the Rams to trade or release him, a league source told ESPN's Adam Caplan. Moments after the Rams selected Gurley, Stacy tweeted, "Yikes."
The 6-foot-1, 226-pound Gurley is coming off November knee surgery after tearing his ACL in his first game back following a suspension.
"Just coming off the injury, I didn't want to have my head down and expect to go low," he said. "I'm not that type of person."
But just because the Rams kept the extent of their interest in Gurley quiet -- even to him -- doesn't mean the selection itself didn't come without some shock waves.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead acknowledged that running backs haven't traditionally been going in the top 10 or even first round, especially those less than six months removed from torn left anterior cruciate ligaments.
In the end, they decided Gurley's talent couldn't be ignored -- and the injury actually worked to their benefit in landing him with the 10th overall pick.
"We thought he was a unique talent that only comes around once in awhile," Snead said. "We thought he may have fallen, could have gone earlier if not for the injury, so it was kind of a bonus to maybe be sitting there at 10."
Gurley finished his college career with 42 total touchdowns and 3,285 rushing yards on 510 carries for the Bulldogs. His 2014 season was cut short not just due to injury, but also by a four-game suspension resulting from profiting off of autographs, a violation of NCAA rules.
Gurley's injury was enough to keep him from participating in most of the pre-draft process. He did not work out at the NFL scouting combine and didn't even allow doctors to touch the knee until a re-check earlier this month.
The Rams felt comfortable with how far Gurley had come during that re-check and signed off on the pick. Gurley said he has only run full speed a couple of times and is still doing modified workouts.
Still, Gurley isn't ruling out the possibility of being ready for the season opener. Fisher made it clear the Rams are willing to be patient.
"We are not going to rush it," Fisher said. "We may be a little on the conservative side. This is the running back of our future. It makes no sense to subject him to, or put him in a bad situation sooner than we have to."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.