RB Melvin Gordon, BAL (3 Viewers)

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

Absolutely not the case.

 

[ShamrockPride]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

Absolutely not the case.

Yeah, I didn't see that either. He's not the type to run a defender over, but I definitely saw him slip through a few defenders on multiple occasions last night. It just likely didn't come across to some people because his o-line is awful and at the end of such runs, he still only gained 2 or 3 yards (if that). Also how can you blame anyone other than the defense? They gave the game up in the second half, giving up a 70 yard pass and allowing a successful 2 minute drill.

 

[Pipes]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

I don't think we watched the same game. If this were the case he would've had negative rushing yards...line was abmissal last night. No excuse for his fumble though.

 

[jurb26]

I doubt he's taken over Woodhead's role. The Steelers are not a good defense and I tend to think that Gordon was used more for his speed than Woodheads quickness. Gamescript. Then again Gordon looked pretty good running the ball too so it's hard not to be encouraged by his workload last night regardless of your view.

What I saw was lots of collapsed holes that there was no way he was getting through, but he did what he could on most runs. Then there were some that if he slipped 1 tackle here and there he would have had a much better night with the yardage some of us are expecting. I tend to think his time will come, sort of like a trial year and getting feel for it (and he hasn't looked horrible doing that) so I'm optimistic about his future. Patch that o-line and he's a top10 RB easy. Right now he's a fringe RB2 in my mind.

I agree with this. Gordon made the most out of his opps IMO. There just wasn't much room for him to run. Nonetheless, he did a nice job running thru initial contact and slithering his way to yards on his runs. He made a cut on an off tackle run that was pretty beautiful. 2 defenders had him dead in the rights and he made a shape cut to split them and move forward for like 4 yards. Small gain, but it should have been no gain. It was a great move in tight space. I really don't understand how people can view last night as a poor performance.

Reasons one could view it as a poor performance:

1. Averaged 2.8 ypc.

2. Fumbled.

3. Terrible in pass protection. Gruden commented on it. PFF gave him a -0.8 pass blocking rating just for this game, which is awful.

4. Had a drop.

Sure, the OL was a problem, and that mitigates #1 to some degree. But that doesn't excuse these other issues.

Yeah, but I'm talking about how he looked running the ball. Fumbles are going to happen and he needs to work on that. Pass protection is a weakness for all rookie backs. Again, he needs to work on that as well. Drops are going to happen it was ugly. From a rushing standpoint, he was pretty good. I'd like to see how many tackles he broke last night. Not sure if it's available yet. It seemed like a lot. There are a lot of people referring to his rushing here, not the things you are talking about. The box score of 2.8 doesn't tell the story at all IMO.

 

[Tau837]

I doubt he's taken over Woodhead's role. The Steelers are not a good defense and I tend to think that Gordon was used more for his speed than Woodheads quickness. Gamescript. Then again Gordon looked pretty good running the ball too so it's hard not to be encouraged by his workload last night regardless of your view.

What I saw was lots of collapsed holes that there was no way he was getting through, but he did what he could on most runs. Then there were some that if he slipped 1 tackle here and there he would have had a much better night with the yardage some of us are expecting. I tend to think his time will come, sort of like a trial year and getting feel for it (and he hasn't looked horrible doing that) so I'm optimistic about his future. Patch that o-line and he's a top10 RB easy. Right now he's a fringe RB2 in my mind.

I agree with this. Gordon made the most out of his opps IMO. There just wasn't much room for him to run. Nonetheless, he did a nice job running thru initial contact and slithering his way to yards on his runs. He made a cut on an off tackle run that was pretty beautiful. 2 defenders had him dead in the rights and he made a shape cut to split them and move forward for like 4 yards. Small gain, but it should have been no gain. It was a great move in tight space. I really don't understand how people can view last night as a poor performance.

Reasons one could view it as a poor performance:

1. Averaged 2.8 ypc.

2. Fumbled.

3. Terrible in pass protection. Gruden commented on it. PFF gave him a -0.8 pass blocking rating just for this game, which is awful.

4. Had a drop.

Sure, the OL was a problem, and that mitigates #1 to some degree. But that doesn't excuse these other issues.

Yeah, but I'm talking about how he looked running the ball. Fumbles are going to happen and he needs to work on that. Pass protection is a weakness for all rookie backs. Again, he needs to work on that as well. Drops are going to happen it was ugly.From a rushing standpoint, he was pretty good. I'd like to see how many tackles he broke last night. Not sure if it's available yet. It seemed like a lot. There are a lot of people referring to his rushing here, not the things you are talking about. The box score of 2.8 doesn't tell the story at all IMO.

Per PFF, he forced (broke or avoided) 11 missed tackles in yesterday's game (7 rushing, 4 receiving). He has forced 25 missed tackles on the season (19 rushing, 6 receiving), so this was definitely his best game in this aspect. And he is indeed among the league leaders in forcing missed tackles.

However, PFF still gave him a -2.3 grade for the game (-2.0 rushing, -0.8 pass blocking, +0.4 receiving). (Yes, I know that doesn't add up to -2.3. ) I'm sure the fumble contributed to his -2.0 rushing grade, but it isn't completely responsible for it, so it shows that his rushing performance was still mixed.

 

[bfan85]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

Absolutely not the case.

Yeah, I didn't see that either. He's not the type to run a defender over, but I definitely saw him slip through a few defenders on multiple occasions last night. It just likely didn't come across to some people because his o-line is awful and at the end of such runs, he still only gained 2 or 3 yards (if that). Also how can you blame anyone other than the defense? They gave the game up in the second half, giving up a 70 yard pass and allowing a successful 2 minute drill.

To be fair, how can you blame anyone but Brandon Flowers? He gave up the 70 yard TD pass as well as a critical 3rd down conversion on the final drive. He was the weak spot in an otherwise good performance from the D. Verrett looked very good limiting Antonio Brown, and for the most part the D kept Bell bottled up. He broke a few good runs, but that's what elite RBs do. They limited the damage. Unfortunately, they fell 6 inches short.

 

[ShamrockPride]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

Absolutely not the case.

Yeah, I didn't see that either. He's not the type to run a defender over, but I definitely saw him slip through a few defenders on multiple occasions last night. It just likely didn't come across to some people because his o-line is awful and at the end of such runs, he still only gained 2 or 3 yards (if that). Also how can you blame anyone other than the defense? They gave the game up in the second half, giving up a 70 yard pass and allowing a successful 2 minute drill.

To be fair, how can you blame anyone but Brandon Flowers? He gave up the 70 yard TD pass as well as a critical 3rd down conversion on the final drive. He was the weak spot in an otherwise good performance from the D. Verrett looked very good limiting Antonio Brown, and for the most part the D kept Bell bottled up. He broke a few good runs, but that's what elite RBs do. They limited the damage. Unfortunately, they fell 6 inches short.

I'll concede you your point.

 

[fruity pebbles]

Still think he looked pretty good. He was literally met with 2-3 guys on all but one carry from what i remember. Could he have finished off a few runs better? Sure. But when you're used to getting hit as youre getting the ball, when you do see a bit of daylight, its normal to scramble for whats there. watching him run after catches, if he does get some space from the line, hes gonna be a good back.

 

[Kitrick Taylor]

I loved Gordon coming out. Was a huge fan of his at Wisconsin. Thought he displayed tremendous vision and explosion.

Didn't see any of that last night. I thought Woodhead looked far better and much more explosive.

I don't see it as a death knell to Gordon's pro career, but he's not exactly off to a great start. 4/5 games he's had a poor YPA.

 

[Tau837]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

Absolutely not the case.

Yeah, I didn't see that either. He's not the type to run a defender over, but I definitely saw him slip through a few defenders on multiple occasions last night. It just likely didn't come across to some people because his o-line is awful and at the end of such runs, he still only gained 2 or 3 yards (if that). Also how can you blame anyone other than the defense? They gave the game up in the second half, giving up a 70 yard pass and allowing a successful 2 minute drill.

To be fair, how can you blame anyone but Brandon Flowers? He gave up the 70 yard TD pass as well as a critical 3rd down conversion on the final drive. He was the weak spot in an otherwise good performance from the D. Verrett looked very good limiting Antonio Brown, and for the most part the D kept Bell bottled up. He broke a few good runs, but that's what elite RBs do. They limited the damage. Unfortunately, they fell 6 inches short.

Flowers was bad, but the run defense was worse -- the Chargers allowed 5.74 yards per carry. They can win some games while giving up a few completions, but not allowing teams to run successfully at will.

ETA: Consider the defensive performance for the season to date:

Pass defense: #9 in yards allowed, #15T in TDs allowed, #26 in YPA allowed

Run defense: #29 in yards allowed, #24 in TDs allowed, #32 in ypc allowed

To be fair, the pass defense ranks are inflated because teams don't need to pass much against them, since they can run successfully at will. Only the Browns have had a worse run defense this season.

 

[Longtucky Lemmings]

I loved Gordon coming out. Was a huge fan of his at Wisconsin. Thought he displayed tremendous vision and explosion.

Didn't see any of that last night. I thought Woodhead looked far better and much more explosive.

I don't see it as a death knell to Gordon's pro career, but he's not exactly off to a great start. 4/5 games he's had a poor YPA.

This.

I'm not surprised to see he had his best game yet at forcing missed/breaking tackles....but I couldn't help but think he spent the night putting his head down and running directly to the "hole" the play called for. He showed a surprising lack of vision and creativity last night. That was not the player I remember watching last year at Wisconsin. With better vision he wouldn't have had to break so many tackles.

Which begs the question....is this lack of vision the new norm or something he will overcome?

 

[ShamrockPride]

So just to be clear here, for all of you people saying he's had a bad average, at what number does the credit given shift from the running back to the O-line?

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

I loved Gordon coming out. Was a huge fan of his at Wisconsin. Thought he displayed tremendous vision and explosion.

Didn't see any of that last night. I thought Woodhead looked far better and much more explosive.

I don't see it as a death knell to Gordon's pro career, but he's not exactly off to a great start. 4/5 games he's had a poor YPA.

This.

I'm not surprised to see he had his best game yet at forcing missed/breaking tackles....but I couldn't help but think he spent the night putting his head down and running directly to the "hole" the play called for. He showed a surprising lack of vision and creativity last night. That was not the player I remember watching last year at Wisconsin. With better vision he wouldn't have had to break so many tackles.

Which begs the question....is this lack of vision the new norm or something he will overcome?

You can't compare the O line at Wisconsin, perennially one of the best in the country, to a poor O line in the pros that goes up against professional D lines. Wisconsin manhandles D lines full of guys who become accountants and PE teachers.

And I'm not saying this as a slight to Melvin. He's a baller and a grinder. He's got a great shot to be a star.

 

[Chaka]

I'll grant that he runs hard but with no vision or creativity. Heads for the hole and if it's not there he still heads for the hole. Didn't break any tackles that I remember.

The box score and his usage in the passing game look encouraging so this looks like a good selling opportunity.

Exactly what I saw. Absolutely no vision and falls down on first contact. Plows right into the line or wherever the run calls for.

I am pretty sure that in the beginning of this thread all the complaints were about how he was indecisive behind the LOS and didn't take what was there for him.

 

[bfan85]

Showed some pretty good vision and decisiveness vs the Bengals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmwsWANyfM

This play against the Lions was called back because of a penalty, but it was a nice piece of running anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ChC5JhJMiM

Last night was the first game where he didn't have a run over 10 yards (long was 7), although he did have 18 yards on a reception. His longs for the first 4 games were 14, 27, 13, and 23. He's averaging 3.8 ypc, and 6.6 per reception. While those aren't great, they're not horrible given how awful the banged up line has been.

Far too early to panic or write him off.

 

[Faust]

Trip to Wisconsin a homecoming for Chargers' Melvin Gordon:

http://espn.go.com/blog/san-diego-chargers/post/_/id/13216/trip-to-wisconsin-a-homecoming-for-chargers-melvin-gordon

 

[Faust]

Many factors to Melvin Gordon's start:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/17/chargers-melvin-gordon-packers/

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

So I think I didn't appreciate his fumbling issues as a real problem.

 

[ShamrockPride]

So I think I didn't appreciate his fumbling issues as a real problem.

He'll be alright. A guy with his big play ability won't stay on a bench. Don't forget Adrian had fumbling issues early in his career too. It can be fixed.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

So I think I didn't appreciate his fumbling issues as a real problem.

He'll be alright. A guy with his big play ability won't stay on a bench. Don't forget Adrian had fumbling issues early in his career too. It can be fixed.

Well, let's see. Peterson had 4 fumbles in his first 14 games, during which he averaged 96 yards per game.

Gordon has 4 fumbles in his first 5 1/2 games, during which he's averaged less than 60 yards per game.

One of these things is not like the other

 

[ILUVBEER99]

another Badger RB bust.

 

[Pipes]

another Badger RB bust.

Way too early to make this claim.

 

[fruity pebbles]

He looks good to me when he has some run and he holds on to the ball. Two big qualifiers though.

 

[ShamrockPride]

So I think I didn't appreciate his fumbling issues as a real problem.

He'll be alright. A guy with his big play ability won't stay on a bench. Don't forget Adrian had fumbling issues early in his career too. It can be fixed.

Well, let's see. Peterson had 4 fumbles in his first 14 games, during which he averaged 96 yards per game.

Gordon has 4 fumbles in his first 5 1/2 games, during which he's averaged less than 60 yards per game.

One of these things is not like the other

Yeah...that was not a direct comparison fyi. That was a fumble comparison. I don't remember exactly, but I would find it unlikely Adrian had as awful a line as Gordon. Peterson was running behind the likes of Steve Hutchinson, but that's disgressing from the main point of fumbles.

 

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡]

Tiki had a fumbling problem that was fixed. Needs to happen. Unfortunately, probably not gonna happen this year for those in redraft.

I still think he's going to be a star.

 

[ATB]

Announcers said Gordon was "shaken up" in the first half. They implied he was essentially injured and that the fumble was not the reason for his benching.

 

[Doubledown1313]

Mike McCoy on why Melvin Gordon saw no snaps in second half: "He put the ball on the ground twice. We've got to eliminate that."

 

[georg013]

What a turn around on this kid. At one point, people were taking him before Gurley in dynasty leagues. the Winsconsin product has so far looked every bit like a bust. To deny that is to belooking through Gordon-colored glasses. Blame it on the team all you want. The fact of the matter is the kid has not lived up to expectation. Period. I would expect to see more of Oliver and Woodhead going forward. Rightfully so.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

What a turn around on this kid. At one point, people were taking him before Gurley in dynasty leagues. the Winsconsin product has so far looked every bit like a bust. To deny that is to belooking through Gordon-colored glasses. Blame it on the team all you want. The fact of the matter is the kid has not lived up to expectation. Period. I would expect to see more of Oliver and Woodhead going forward. Rightfully so.

But how will Woodhead be able to hold on to the ball with all those terrible linemen blocking for him?!?

 

[ShamrockPride]

What a turn around on this kid. At one point, people were taking him before Gurley in dynasty leagues. the Winsconsin product has so far looked every bit like a bust. To deny that is to belooking through Gordon-colored glasses. Blame it on the team all you want. The fact of the matter is the kid has not lived up to expectation. Period. I would expect to see more of Oliver and Woodhead going forward. Rightfully so.

Disagree. He's been able to rip off big chunks of yardage and make defenders miss when the line blocks for him. It doesn't show in a stat sheet or an average because the other half of the time he gets stuffed.

 

[Zyphros]

I'll be the first to admit that Gordon hasn't done what some of us thought he would, but calling him a bust is ludicrous. He's had some nice runs and shown some of the quickness he did at Wisconsin which is promising, but the fumbling and dominance isn't quite there. At least right now. I'm hopeful for him, because the adjustment period needs to sink in and maybe it just hasn't quite clicked yet. He's had some chances and done well (and poor) in them but at least give him some time to find some consistency and feel for the NFL. I mean #### it's only been 6 weeks. I love when I hear people call a guy a bust halfway (not even) through a season, HE'S A ROOKIE! Might as well drop Kevin White, DeVante Parker, Jameis Winston, Nelson Agholor, DGB, Ameer Abdullah, and everyone not named Gurley or Cooper cause they are all busts to this point too.

 

[Tau837]

4 fumbles in 6 games will tend to limit snaps. Not sure why anyone would be surprised at that.

 

[Power Monster]

Waste of a roster spot in redrafts

 

[Illegal Pants Downfield]

I agree that Gordon has looked good on occasion. As a dynasty owner, my concern is that from what I saw yesterday, Oliver looks better, especially when it comes to making something out of nothing. Maybe not that Oliver's a better player or a better runner. But in this offense, behind that offensive line, Oliver's nifty jump-cut style is more suited for success than Gordon's long-striding, gliding running style. In a different offense the opposite might be true, but from what I'm seeing, I worry that the Gordon-SD match is a misfit.

 

[Joe Summer]

Time to toss him on to the sky platform.

 

[fruity pebbles]

Perfect time to buy in dynasty leagues imo

 

[packer_junkie]

I honestly think he will have late season value in redrafts.. they're not going to bail on the kid, and if you watch, he has shown juice and burst.... If he ever gets 18-22 touches like we imagined, I think he will be just fine. He can still turn the corner like not many RBs in the league

 

[Tau837]

When he was drafted, the known concerns based on his college performance were these:

Pass protection

Receiving

Fumbling

How would he play behind a weak OL?

It has only been 6 games, but all of those concerns have been validated. He has been terrible in pass protection and obviously has a fumbling problem. He has been okay as a receiver, but there are still two RBs on the team who are much better in Woodhead and Oliver. And his 3.8 ypc illustrates that he is not very good behind a poor OL.

On that last point, some may point out that Woodhead is averaging 3.7 ypc and Oliver is averaging 3.1. But here's the thing: shouldn't a RB worth trading up and drafting in the first round be outperforming guys like Woodhead and Oliver by a bigger margin? Especially when he was known to have some of those concerns above but was drafted specifically for his rushing ability, with the intent that he would carry the running game?

I think he will get better if the OL ever gets healthy and has an opportunity to gel, but that could be said about Woodhead and Oliver as well.

Very disappointing start to his career. Hope he can turn it around.

 

[iamkoza]

4 fumbles in 6 games will tend to limit snaps. Not sure why anyone would be surprised at that.

it's like ryan mathews all over again

 

[The_Fonz]

He is looking like my worst pick in my draft.

 

[Tau837]

4 fumbles in 6 games will tend to limit snaps. Not sure why anyone would be surprised at that.

it's like ryan mathews all over again

It's worse.

 

[bfan85]

Now's the time to buy low in dynasty. He can solve his fumbling issues (see: AP, Tiki Barber, etc.). Had another 20+ yard run yesterday, making that 5 through 6 games (and yesterday was really less than half a game). Get him cheap and stash him.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Fumble rates, like injuries, are often more a matter of luck than anything else.

But not in Gordon's case. He's not holding onto the ball as securely as he should. It's not just bad luck; it's a real problem that needs to be fixed.

He looks fantastic running the ball, though.

My main concern, more than the fumbles, is that the OL is so consistently terrible that he's going to develop bad habits in his footwork. He's going to get hesitant. He's going to start expecting to get hit as soon as he touches the ball, and that will detract from his ability to hit the hole whenever there actually is one.

I hope that doesn't happen.

 

[BoltBacker]

4 fumbles in 6 games will tend to limit snaps. Not sure why anyone would be surprised at that.

it's like ryan mathews all over again

It's worse.

I dunno. He stays healthy more than Ryan Mathews ever did, so you can count on those fumbles on a more regular basis.

 

[BoltBacker]

When he was drafted, the known concerns based on his college performance were these:

Pass protection

Receiving

Fumbling

How would he play behind a weak OL?

I think another big question was running style and whether that would work in short yardage in the NFL.

I said before the season that he really needs to at least get double digit rushing TD's to make trading up for him to make any sense(he has 0 thus far, almost half way through the season, and doesn't get many snaps inside the red-zone).

As CSTU pointed out on the day he was drafted, he's a home run hitting RB.... that doesn't have the top end speed to hit home runs in the NFL. People like to point out that he has several 20 yard carries but even then I feel like those were his long TD runs in college but in the NFL those are just going to be 20 yarders because everyone on the field is so fast. We aren't talking about a young Chris Johnson here where he gets stuffed on occasion but when he gets past the second level.... he's gone.

That and, well, he's still just a rbbc guy. People were in love with saying Chris Johnson was done this summer and he's almost up to 5y/c. Pierre Thomas still can't get a gig, he almost had 5y/c behind an OL that NO thought needed a big overhaul. If SD would have simply signed those two guys instead of drafting a RB and instead spent their first rounder on OL can anyone honestly say they wouldn't have been better off than they are now? Or a DLman.

After trading up for this guy, this needs to be "THE" pick that either saves Telesco his job or loses it. What do we think so far?

 

[Zyphros]

When he was drafted, the known concerns based on his college performance were these:

Pass protection

Receiving

Fumbling

How would he play behind a weak OL?

It has only been 6 games, but all of those concerns have been validated. He has been terrible in pass protection and obviously has a fumbling problem. He has been okay as a receiver, but there are still two RBs on the team who are much better in Woodhead and Oliver. And his 3.8 ypc illustrates that he is not very good behind a poor OL.

On that last point, some may point out that Woodhead is averaging 3.7 ypc and Oliver is averaging 3.1. But here's the thing: shouldn't a RB worth trading up and drafting in the first round be outperforming guys like Woodhead and Oliver by a bigger margin? Especially when he was known to have some of those concerns above but was drafted specifically for his rushing ability, with the intent that he would carry the running game?

I think he will get better if the OL ever gets healthy and has an opportunity to gel, but that could be said about Woodhead and Oliver as well.

Very disappointing start to his career. Hope he can turn it around.

He's 1 long carry away every game from consistently being in the 4.0+ ypc category. I'd say he just hasn't had the volume to get that 1 run it takes to boost his ypc yet. It's hard on ~10 touches a game to break a long one that's going to do something to boost the numbers. You can see his explosion and quickness so I'm not worried. What I am worried about is if that o-line is ever going to be decent with a focus on the run game. That is what I have my doubts on, not Gordon's talent.

 

[Tau837]

When he was drafted, the known concerns based on his college performance were these:

Pass protection

Receiving

Fumbling

How would he play behind a weak OL?

It has only been 6 games, but all of those concerns have been validated. He has been terrible in pass protection and obviously has a fumbling problem. He has been okay as a receiver, but there are still two RBs on the team who are much better in Woodhead and Oliver. And his 3.8 ypc illustrates that he is not very good behind a poor OL.

On that last point, some may point out that Woodhead is averaging 3.7 ypc and Oliver is averaging 3.1. But here's the thing: shouldn't a RB worth trading up and drafting in the first round be outperforming guys like Woodhead and Oliver by a bigger margin? Especially when he was known to have some of those concerns above but was drafted specifically for his rushing ability, with the intent that he would carry the running game?

I think he will get better if the OL ever gets healthy and has an opportunity to gel, but that could be said about Woodhead and Oliver as well.

Very disappointing start to his career. Hope he can turn it around.

He's 1 long carry away every game from consistently being in the 4.0+ ypc category. I'd say he just hasn't had the volume to get that 1 run it takes to boost his ypc yet. It's hard on ~10 touches a game to break a long one that's going to do something to boost the numbers.

This makes no sense. Gordon is tied for second in the league in 20+ yard runs. That fact is the reason his ypc isn't worse.

 

[ATB]

I really thought this guy would mirror Todd Gurley's production this year (except for the fact that Woodhead is better competition than Mason and Cunningham).

Is this really a Gordon problem or a situational problem? Gurley seems to have the better situation and more trust (granted he's earned it but he doesn't get pulled for Cunningham just bc a run play got broken up).

 

[jurb26]

I really thought this guy would mirror Todd Gurley's production this year (except for the fact that Woodhead is better competition than Mason and Cunningham).

Is this really a Gordon problem or a situational problem? Gurley seems to have the better situation and more trust (granted he's earned it but he doesn't get pulled for Cunningham just bc a run play got broken up).

Gurley is just that much better.

 

[EBF]

I'm not bailing yet in the one dynasty league where I own him. Even though I never liked him that much in the first place and he hasn't been convincing, I don't think you can jump ship this early unless you get amazing value. Still far too likely that he ends up becoming pretty good in the long run.

That said, my fear with him is that he might be a runner who really only shines when he has a lot of space to work with. Guys like Darren McFadden and Andre Williams are great when they have a big lane that allows them to open up their stride and build momentum, but they're terrible at running in tight spaces because they can't "get small" and make anyone miss. So while they were amazing in college, they've struggled in the NFL where it's much harder to find gaping holes.

Sound familiar? I'm not going to call Gordon a bust yet, but there are some similarities. And as others have said, his speed really isn't anything special by NFL standards. So if he can't run with power, he can't make people miss, and he can't run to daylight...what exactly does he do that's going to make him consistently successful? Long runs are nice, but you've got to have the ability to get those 4-5 yard gains too in order to sustain drive. Overall, I'm not thrilled with what I've seen from him, but I can also accept the idea that SD's line is garbage and I think you always need to give high picks like this plenty of time to show what they have. Not all of them explode out of the gate (i.e. Lynch, Ingram, T Jones, etc). It would only take one or two big games to change the tone in here completely.