Fantasy football is in the air, and the unique offseason is causing more questions than answers as we enter our fantasy football drafts. Today we focus on Denver Broncos RB Melvin Gordon and his fantasy football potential this year.
Melvin Gordon’s fantasy football ADP
Average Draft Position on MyFantasyLeague: 50.06 (12 teams, PPR redrafts)
- 22nd among RBs
Reasons to draft Melvin Gordon
- A former Los Angeles Charger who switched AFC West locales this offseason in free agency, Gordon is currently ranked 21st among fantasy backs by The Huddle, but how many other backs in that range have had three straight top-eight fantasy finishes in the last four seasons? At 27, Gordon is still in his prime and over the last four seasons, only Ezekiel Elliott (60) and Todd Gurley (48) have scored more touchdowns than Gordon’s 47. Elliott (980.4) and Gurley (976) also are the only non-quarterbacks with more standard-scoring fantasy points than Gordon’s 804. That’s a recent track record that’s hard to pass up.
- Not only is Gordon a prolific TD scorer, but he’s a viable pass-catcher as well with at least 41 receptions in each of his last four seasons. Since his 2015 rookie campaign, only seven running backs have caught more passes than Gordon’s 224. It’s a role he should slip into nicely as the Broncos are looking for a more reliable pass-catching weapon out of the backfield under new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and second-year QB Drew Lock.
- Outside of the top dozen or so fantasy RBs, questions and uncertainty abound. They do with Gordon as well, but after 15 backs or so have come off the board, Gordon’s credentials and ceiling will stand out when comparing running back resumes.
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Reasons not to draft Melvin Gordon
- By most all accounts, Gordon is headed for a near 50-50 timeshare split with incumbent Denver RB Phillip Lindsay, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and 227-plus touches. Royce Freeman, a 2018 third-round pick, who had 175 touches of his own last season, also could still be in the mix. In short, Gordon could be in for a repeat of 2019 when he had 204 of the Chargers’ 488 RB touches (41.8 percent) as he finished with career lows in touches and rushing yards (612).
- Whether it be injuries or ill-conceived contract holdouts, Gordon has only played a full season once in five years, playing in 12 contests in each of the last two seasons. Perhaps his heavy workload, which included 569 touches over his final two college campaigns at Wisconsin, is resulting in some wear and tear.
- Now, true, yards per carry and yards per touch aren’t fantasy stats, but Gordon never has been the most efficient of performers. In four of his five NFL seasons, he’s averaged less than four yards per carry, including 3.8 last season, and he ranked 40th among RBs in 2019 with an average of 4.5 yards per touch – his lowest mark since a 3.8 in his rookie season. That explosive big-play potential you want in a strong fantasy back seems to be missing with Gordon.
Should I draft Melvin Gordon?
Yes, but at the right value. If you’re considering him in the third round as a high-end RB2, it’s a reach. Target Gordon in the fifth round as a solid RB3.
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