It felt like the Broncos already had a pretty good thing going in the backfield. Thunder and lightning that was more than stable. Royce Freeman is the power back and Phillip Lindsay is the elusive back. Now the Broncos are adding Melvin Gordon. Where the hell does Gordon fit into this mix? Gordon is an interesting addition that may have added more questions than answers.
Royce Freeman hasn’t been a superstar or even close, but the man gets the job done. 3.9 YPC career average is okay. Denver only needs him for short yardage and goal line duties. That’s where most of his work comes from so that number is deceiving too. In two years, Freeman does have 8 career rushing touchdowns on a team that wasn’t very good. He’s also improved in the passing game. Freeman reeled in 43 of 50 targets a year ago which is a huge improvement. I think it’s way too early to give up on the former Oregon running back.
Then you have Phillip Lindsay coming off back to back 1,000 yard seasons. Lindsay was slightly better as a rookie where he averaged 5.4 yards per carry. The man was a lightning rod. The more you got the ball in his hands, the more good things happened. His role is also perfect. It’s sort of like Alvin Kamara. You want to use him but you don’t want to overuse him.
Overall, the one – two punch wasn’t perfect but it was doable. Especially given the fact that neither were making any significant money. Enter Melvin Gordon who got a big chunk of money and a track record of success. The problem is, Gordon really hasn’t been productive outside of one season. In 2018, Melvin Gordon averaged 5.1 yards per carry in 12 game. Every other season of his career, he failed to reach that 4 mark.
So where does Melvin Gordon fit in? Is there really room for 3 running backs to get a significant number of carries on one team? Gordon sat out a number of games last year and watched his back up Austin Ekeler perform significantly better anyway. Which Melvin Gordon are we getting in 2020? Are we sure the Gordon addition is even a positive thing?
