Tag: Melvin Gordon

Badger Countdown: Badger RB ends career with 45 rushing scores

The college football season is on the horizon and the Badgers are now 45 days away from their 2023 opener against Buffalo on Sept. 2.

The college football season is on the horizon and the Badgers are now 45 days away from their 2023 opener against Buffalo on Sept. 2. Luke Fickell and his coaching staff are on the cusp of their first full season at the helm, but a Wisconsin legend gives the number 45 significant meaning.

Spending the 2010-2013 seasons with the Badgers, running back James White became one of the best at his position in program history. Over his four campaigns, White tallied a total of 4,015 rushing yards and 45 rushing touchdowns while also reeling in 73 catches for 670 yards and three scores.

He appeared in all three of the Badgers’ Rose Bowl losses from 2011-2013, operating alongside Wisconsin’s all-time leading touchdown scorer Montee Ball (84) for White’s first three years in Madison.

White’s 45 rushing TDs rank tied four fourth all-time (Melvin Gordon) and his 4,015 rushing yards are the sixth highest in Wisconsin football history.

The running back was selected in fourth round (130th overall) in the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and he spent nine seasons with the team before retiring after the 2021 campaign, winning three Super Bowls in his time there.

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Badger Countdown: Wideout records 3(46) all-purpose yards in Rose Bowl

The 2023 CFB season is on the horizon and Luke Fickell and his Badgers are now 46 days away from their opener versus Buffalo on Sept. 2.

The 2023 college football season is on the horizon and Luke Fickell and his Badgers are now 46 days away from their opener versus Buffalo on Sept. 2. As we count down, former Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis gives the number 46 a special meaning.

During his second season with the Badgers, Abbrederis became a household name in Madison and across the state of Wisconsin, recording 55 catches for 933 yards and eight scores over 14 games in 2011.

The final contest of the year is where he put on a show, compiling 346 all-purpose yards in the Badgers’ 45-38 loss to the Oregon Ducks in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

Abbrederis caught four passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, but his special-teams production was just as impressive. He returned a total of six kickoffs for 201 yards, including a 60-yarder, which good for an average of 25.1 yards per attempt. He also added 26 more yards on three punt returns.

At the time, the 346 yards were second only to Ron Dayne’s 347 he produced against Hawaii in 1996 and it currently stands as the third highest total in program history with Melvin Gordon’s 408-yard performance versus Nebraska (2014) on top.

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Wisconsin is the only school in FBS history to have running backs do this

Wisconsin is the only school in FBS history to have running backs do this

Wisconsin is running back university, and while other schools have had success at the position here and there, few have had the sustained excellence of the Badgers’ running back room.

Our friend Ben Stevens of SportsGrid recently pointed out that Wisconsin is the only FBS program in history to have a pair of players be in the top ten for most rushing yards in a single season. Those two players were two of Wisconsin’s best running backs of all time in Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor.

Taylor did it recently in 2018, while Gordon used his 408 rushing yards against Nebraska to vault himself to the top of the list in 2014.

Wisconsin boasts two of the NCAA’s leading rushers from the last 10 years

It’s surprising there isn’t more on this list…

There is often debate during the college football offseason about which program is the true “Running Back U.” Whether Wisconsin holds that title or not, the program’s production at that position is undeniable.

Take away just at the college level. Recently we’ve seen Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, Corey Clement, Alec Ingold and others make significant impacts in the NFL. I’m sure there is hope around Madison, Wisconsin that Braelon Allen will be next to join that list.

Two of those players, Taylor and Gordon, I’d go as far as to call borderline-generational talents at the college level. Gordon ended his college career with nearly 4200 yards in his final two seasons, while Taylor was the sport’s best for a three-year span that saw him scamper for 6174 yards.

Thinking of the careers of those two had brought me back into the record books. Here’s who led the NCAA in rushing in each of the past 10 seasons:

Chiefs HC Andy Reid encouraged Melvin Gordon to keep playing despite tough free agent market

Free agency has been tough on running backs lately, but #Chiefs HC Andy Reid encouraged Melvin Gordon to keep at it and continue his pursuit of playing in the NFL.

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Melvin Gordon joined the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad in 2022 after being released by the Denver Broncos. There was no promise that he’d get an opportunity to play and in the end, he was never elevated from the practice squad or activated for a game. His impact came from working on the scout team, being a positive presence in the locker room and being prepared should the team need him.

In a recent appearance on the Jim Rome Show, Melvin Gordon told all about his desire to continue playing in the NFL, the advice he received from Andy Reid and his frustration surrounding the free agent market for his position.

“I still want to play,” Gordon said. “I’ve still got some tread left on the tires. Coach Reid kind of sat me down and he told me, ‘You still can play.’ It’s about the right situation.”

Will that right opportunity ever come for Gordon, though? With stars such as Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette still available, he could be waiting a long time for the “right situation.”

“It’s so tough for running backs right now, man,” Gordon continued. “You have a lot of running backs that’s out there and we just don’t get no love. It’s literally the worst position to play in the NFL right now. It literally sucks. I’m just staying ready because I know what I can do. I know once I get in camp or any camp, I can turn some heads. I know what I need to do. I know my mistakes that I’ve made and you have to be able to correct them, but I’m ready to go.”

Gordon isn’t wrong about the devaluation of the running back position in free agency in the NFL. Not only are players at the position available in abundance, but they’re not receiving much money when they are signed. Running back also happens to be one of the toughest positions to remain healthy while playing. As of 2019, running back had the highest rate of injury in the NFL (20.7%). The risk versus reward of playing the position in the NFL simply isn’t there given the longevity situation.

For Gordon, he says it’s all about staying prepared for whatever opportunity may come his way. It’s probably a little easier to get through knowing that he just won a Super Bowl as a member of the Chiefs.

“I’m just staying ready,” Gordon said. “It’s hard, though. It’s hard training knowing that you’re not gonna be on a team. It’s tough, mentally. But I talked to some players that went through it and I’m just taking their advice, being a sponge, and it kind of helps you get through it.”

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Melvin Gordon thinks Russell Wilson has MVP season in him

Things could be on the upswing for the former Wisconsin Badger.

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To say former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson had a tough debut year with the Broncos is an understatement. After finally forcing his way out of Seattle, Wilson found his new NFL home in Denver, and things didn’t exactly go as according to plan.

Wilson easily had the worst year of his career as the Broncos cratered to 5-12. Wilson’s reputation was sullied drastically as he and his team became the punchline of every joke. However, things could be on the upswing for the former Wisconsin Badger. Denver hired head coach Sean Payton this offseason, and one former teammate of Wilson’s thinks it will be a key difference-maker.

Former Broncos running back Melvin Gordon III believes that under Payton, Wilson can return to being an MVP-caliber player.

Gordon’s three-year tenure in Denver came to a halt last year when the Broncos cut him because of his costly fumble issues. He was quickly picked up by the division rival Kansas City Chiefs, with whom he earned a Super Bowl ring.

More Seahawks Wire stories

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Initial 53-man roster projection after minicamp

The 15 biggest salary cap hits for Seattle this year

Ranking all 32 NFL head coaches going into 2023

Which Badgers would’ve been EA Sports’ NCAA Football cover athletes since 2014?

Which Badgers would’ve been cover athletes on EA’s NCAA Football video game?

The last time that EA Sports released their NCAA Football game was 2013 and the game is set to return in 2024. Many have speculated which college football athletes would’ve been selected as cover athletes for the game over the last decade and for the sake of it, I’ve compiled a Badgers only list.

Wisconsin has had many “star” players in the Big Ten and many hometown favorites, but the program has also churned out some of the absolute best players in the country over the last 10 years.

Listed below, I selected the Wisconsin players that I felt most deserved to be on the cover for each of the Badgers’ last 10 seasons, choosing to go without any repeats.

Rams rookie Zach Evans was compared a 2-time Pro Bowl RB before the draft

Two draft experts compared Zach Evans to 2-time Pro Bowl RB Melvin Gordon, which is high praise for the Rams rookie

Zach Evans is joining the Rams as a sixth-round rookie but there’s a good chance he outplays his draft position in Los Angeles. It was surprising to hear his name called so late in the draft after he was ranked in the top 150 by a lot of analysts, but the Rams are thrilled to have landed him at No. 215 overall, even if they had to move up 37 spots to make it happen.

He’s a running back who brings good size, physicality and speed to the offense, proving to be a big-play threat for Ole Miss and TCU during his career in college. Not many running backs manage to average 6.9 yards per carry across three seasons like Evans did.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar ranked Evans as the seventh-best running back in the class and he compared the Rams rookie to a two-time Pro Bowler: Melvin Gordon.

Farrar also compared Kenneth Walker III to Gordon in 2022, but he feels Evans is more powerful in his lower half than Gordon or Walker.

NFL Comparison: Melvin Gordon III. Last year, I compared Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III to Gordon, and it fit — everywhere from the slashing running style to the embryonic receiver abilities to the occasional garish whiffs in pass protection. Walker turned into an asset for the Seahawks in his rookie season, and Evans reminds me a lot of both backs in his predilection for consistently exhibiting speed and agility, and I think that Evans is more powerful at his base than either of those backs.

Evans turns out to be the Rams’ version of Gordon, they should be very happy. Though he only rushed for 1,000 yards once, he’s averaged 4.1 yards per carry in his career and scored 55 touchdowns despite missing time with injury almost every season.

Farrar wasn’t the only analyst to make that pro comparison, either. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein did the same, likening Evans to Gordon in his scouting report and giving him a fourth-round projection with the third-best grade of any running back in the 2023 class.

That’s some high praise from Zierlein.

Evans has a lot to prove and he dealt with his own injury struggles in college, but he’ll get an opportunity to contribute early on as the No. 2 or 3 back behind Cam Akers and Kyren Williams.

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Wisconsin offers four-star running back from Florida

The Badgers offered Byron Louis, a four-star class of 2025 running back from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday.

The Badgers offered Byron Louis, a four-star running back from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday. The 5-foot-10, 180 pound athlete still has two more seasons of football at American Heritage before he’d potentially join a collegiate program as a member of their class of 2025.

Louis has now received 24 Division 1 offers, including programs like Georgia, Ohio State and USC. That being said, Wisconsin is known for producing star running backs like Jonathan Taylor, Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball and Ron Dayne amongst others.

Head coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo will look to improve upon the early success of current halfback Braelon Allen in 2023 and Louis could potentially be next up to be a star in the Badgers’ backfield.

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WATCH: Happy 30th birthday to Melvin Gordon, relive his best Badger moments

Happy birthday to Melvin Gordon!

One of the all-time Badger greats at running back is celebrating his 30th birthday today. Melvin Gordon’s 2014 season will go down as one of the best at any position in Wisconsin football history.

In a year where he finished as the Heisman runner-up, Gordon racked up 2,740 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns, while also adding 153 receiving yards and three scores in the passing game.

His greatest moment on the field as a Badger? The iconic 408 rushing yards against Nebraska that will go down as one of the best running back performances in the history of the sport.

Check out the best of Gordon’s Wisconsin career.