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RB Melvin Gordon, BAL (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter gianmarco
- Start date
Twenty-Four Eighty-Four
Footballguy
He'll be in for me. Not many other options with that upside.
Weebs210
Footballguy
Listening to the full audio clip. My guess would be Melvin plays slightly more than the jj role. 40 to 50% of snaps maybe 10 to 15 touches. I bet ekeler still had the better fantasy week with his usual touches
matttyl
Footballguy
Don Hutson
Footballguy
I would be more comfortable starting both Gordon and Ekeler than starting either of them individually. It won't matter to you how the touches are divided.
matttyl
Footballguy
Which for me would mean benching either Chubb or Fournette. I can only start a max of 3. I know, I know, assistant coach thread....
joey
Footballguy
I own both in a dynasty league and, right now, I'm leaning towards Ekeler for a "safer" floor. It's not like Ekeler can't be relied on by the team since he's been putting up big numbers while Gordon is out. I think they'll ease him in and am willing to take that risk. Basically, a "prove it to me" week for Gordon from my pov.
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matttyl
Footballguy
Twenty-Four Eighty-Four
Footballguy
Hmmm. Now what?
DJackson10
Footballguy
I got both and at a point with my RBs and flex I might start Ekler as my RB 1-2 and Gordon in the Flexmatttyl said:
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
You absolutely start them both. No brainer. If you had them together last year you know they were a buzzsaw as a duo. I won a good handful of games because of the two of them in my lineup.matttyl said:
“Buzzsaw?” My main league is pretty standard scoring (non-PPR), and to be a top-30 RB, you had to average 9.96 points in 2018. There were only 4 weeks in 2018 where both backs hit at least 9.96 points. Two of those 4 weeks were Ekeler barely hitting that mark (11.4 & 11.6 points). I’d hardly call that a buzzsaw. Mote often than not, if both RBs played, one (Gordon) was good to great, and the other was a RB3, at best.
joey
Footballguy
It doesn't matter whether both guys hit a certain point threshold, or if one guy was "RB3 at best". Their combined points is all that matters.
The two played together in 11 games last season. They combined for 319.4 points in those 11 games, so 29 combined points per game, and 14.5 average ppg per player.
14.5 ppg ranked RB9 in my league.
So if you started both guys, you got the equivalent production of Zeke Elliott (16.9) and David Johnson (12.5).
Weebs210
Footballguy
Except when one guy got 24 points, and the 2nd guy got 5, while your bench RB scored 10 & you’ve cost yourself 5 points & lost by 4, it does matter.
He most likely won't stay at #1. But pretty damn good to know he could if given the opportunity.
FBG has them at an even split this week. I'd take 10 points/week for the rest of the year and be thrilled since he was drafted as a flex/backup.
LAC is getting almost 2 TD per game from the RB position. That's the number I want to see continue.
Nope. You disputed the notion that the two were a "buzzsaw" last year.
How the points are (were) split is irrelevant to that question.
Nope. You brought up their end of year totals, which is also irrelevant to the “buzzsaw” notion. My most recent post was response to your end of year total comment, not the buzzsaw post.
What I said was, the two averaged 29 points (non-PPR), combined, in the games they both played.
As I mentioned, it's the equivalent of having Elliott and DJ as your starters.
Maybe that's not very impressive to you. Sounds pretty good to me.
And what I said was, if one of them puts up 24 points & 1 puts up 5, while you leave points on your bench with a different (better) RB, it’s not a smart move. Kinda like starting the McCaffrey (RB1-21.7 ff ppg), and Devontae Freeman (RB33-7.25 ff ppg), while you leave Josh Jacobs (RB12-12.1 ff ppg) on your bench. Maybe that sounds pretty good to you, but I don’t think most people would agree.What I said was, the two averaged 29 points (non-PPR), combined, in the games they both played.
As I mentioned, it's the equivalent of having Elliott and DJ as your starters.
Maybe that's not very impressive to you. Sounds pretty good to me.
It doesn't matter whether you get to 29 from 15+14 or 24+5, is the point.And what I said was, if one of them puts up 24 points & 1 puts up 5, while you leave points on your bench with a different (better) RB, it’s not a smart move. Kinda like starting the McCaffrey (RB1-21.7 ff ppg), and Devontae Freeman (RB33-7.25 ff ppg), while you leave Josh Jacobs (RB12-12.1 ff ppg) on your bench. Maybe that sounds pretty good to you, but I don’t think most people would agree.
If you could reliably predict the 5, then obviously you replace that player, that week. But, you can't reliably predict that, and the beauty of the Gordon+Ekeler combo is that you don't even need to try, because one way or the other they're going to combine for a solid total. The worst week they had last year was still over 18 standard points.
It does matter, if you could have had 34 points, is the point.
It’s also a bit disingenuous to say “the worst week they had last year was still over 18 points;” when that was largely due to Gordon. In 2017, there were also 2 RBs who averaged 29 ff ppg. The worst week they had together was 10.2 ff points, but every other week was at least 18 ff points. If you’d have asked 2018 Gurley owners if pairing him with Orleans Darkwa was the shark move, I don’t think you’d have gotten anyone to say yes. But that’s what you’re saying; “doesn’t matter how you get the points.” The truth is, if one RB gives you great numbers, it doesn’t make sense to settle for below par numbers from your RB2.
Discounting week 17, because it’s an irrelevant week for most ff leagues, Gordon & Ekeler played 8 games together in 2018. Gordon was a RB1 in 6 of those (standard FBG scoring), and was RB13 & RB14 the other two weeks. Ekeler was NEVER a RB1 during those weeks, and was only a RB2 3 times. His average finish was RB 31. Why settle for a middle of the pack RB3 as your second RB? Makes no sense.
Don Hutson
Footballguy
^^This^^. Ekeler is the better start this week. Melvin is a wildcard this week. Melvin is better rest of season. Ekeler is a wildcard rest of season. And it's hard to predict at what point Gordon will get more touches. And it's hard to predict if that switch will happen suddenly or gradually. My guess is that Gordon will get more touches sooner rather than later.
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TwinTurbo
Footballguy
Yeah I just don't see it happening suddenly, at least not this week. I'm not sure what role Gordon will have vs. Denver, but no coach is going to throw him into the fire after the way Ekeler has been playing. There's just no need for it. Common sense would dictate that Gordon gets plugged into a few drives, takes some hits and maybe breaks off a long run if they are lucky.
Tau837
Footballguy
Why use standard FBG scoring? That is non-PPR, right? It seems that PPR is more the norm nowadays, and Ekeler is obviously a stronger fantasy player in PPR.
In my standard 1 PPR league last season, here were Ekeler's RB finishes by week: 8, 20, 34, 23, 25, 39, 23, bye, 47, 61, 27, 5, 36, 12, inj, inj, 20.
You are on the right side of the argument regardless of scoring system.
All that said, I don't think last season is necessarily predictive of this season. Ekeler has proven that he deserves a larger role than he had last year, and Gordon put himself ahead of the team by holding out. Those facts alone suggest that the split will shift from Gordon to Ekeler to some degree.
Then it seems appropriate to consider Okung's absence. Gordon averaged 5.9 ypc on 64 carries running outside Okung last season, with 21 first downs and 5 TDs. On his other 137 carries, he averaged 4.1 ypc, with 31 first downs and 7 TDs. Okung is currently out and might not play a snap this season, maybe never again. PFF gave Okung a 68.0 run blocking grade in 2018, which ranked #26 among 127 graded tackles. So far this season, PFF has given his replacement, Trent Scott, a 44.6 run blocking grade, which ranks #87 among 95 graded tackles. It is possible that Gordon will not be able to repeat his career best ypc from last year. If he reverts to his ypc of 2015-2017, it is very possible that Ekeler will get the primary share of their combined workload all season.
hamsterdam
Footballguy
Rivers missed him / miscommunication on a screen that would have been a huge gain. Looks a little rusty though.
He looked extremely rusty, to the point where forcing the issue with him may have cost them the game. Ekeler easily outplayed, and I can't say for certain Jackson/Pope wouldn't have been better. Hopefully its just rust, and he is much better next week, because the guy who showed up today, isn't in Ekeler's league.
leftcoastheel
Footballguy
Brilliant career strategery by Melvin and his agent. I think the Chargers should offer him half his current guarantees for his extension. 
Weebs210
Footballguy
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Please, that was a perfectly fine play. That fumble was meaningless. There was no time left on the clock, it was 4th down, and he was trying to stretch the ball into the endzone. It was the RB version of a QB throwing an INT on a hail mary.Ekeler looked great fumbling the ball right next to the end zone
Tau837
Footballguy
Please, that was a perfectly fine play. That fumble was meaningless. There was no time left on the clock, it was 4th down, and he was trying to stretch the ball into the endzone. It was the RB version of a QB throwing an INT on a hail mary.Ekeler looked great fumbling the ball right next to the end zone
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
Gordon should sue his agent for career suicide
Weebs210
Footballguy
It's exactly the same as a hail mary.
Either he scores or he doesn't. It makes no difference if he fumbles, gets tackled, or goes out of bounds.
Weebs210
Footballguy
Ekeler himself disagrees so.
“This is the NFL,” he said. “You lose games doing that. It’s a crucial time. It’s like, ‘OK, we got all the way down here. Now, we have to finish the drive.’ I gotta hang on to the ball.”
Asked if he felt he would have scored, he added, “If I held on to the ball, yeah, I do. He just hit my arm.”
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