PODCAST: Melvin Gordon has been pretty good!

Sometimes, we have to look past the stats. Sometimes, we can’t ignore them. When it comes to Melvin Gordon, it’s a little bit of both.

Here’s what Melvin Gordon did in his rookie season after the San Diego Chargers traded up in the 1st Round to draft him and before he ended the season with a major knee injury:

184 carries
641 rushing yds (3.5 Y/A)
0 rushing TDs
33 catches
192 receiving yds (5.8 Y/R)
0 receiving TDs
6 fumbles (4 lost)

That, we can’t totally ignore. Melvin Gordon was bad last year, one of the worst rookie seasons we’ve ever seen by a 1st Round draft pick, but at least part of that was an offensive line and an Offensive Coordinator that were almost working against him.

Here is what Gordon has done in limited action over the first two preseason games for the Chargers this year:

9 carries
30 rushing yds (3.3 Y/A)
0 rushing TDs
1 catch
44 receiving yds (44.0 Y/R)
1 receiving TD
0 fumbles

That is such a small sample size that we probably shouldn’t put too much stock in the numbers, but when you watch him, it’s obvious that Gordon is making decisions quicker (a major issue last season) and fighting through contact (another major issue last season).

For all of the time I’ve spent criticizing Gordon, I felt it was only right to highlight how good he has looked heading into his sophomore season in the NFL...

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