Going 40th over all in last year’s fantasy draft, Melvin Gordon was expected to have a breakout year. Coming out of Wisconsin the Chargers drafted him in the first round of the NFL draft. He had an incredible 4,915 yards, 49 touch downs, and 7.79 yards per carry during his 3 seasons in Madison. Gordon was to start as the lead back and predicted to be a superstar. But if you ask anyone who had him on their fantasy team, they can tell you nothing could have been farther from the truth.
Instead of the record numbers he set in college he ended his 14 game season with 833 total yards and 0 touchdowns. Yes, you read that right… 0 touchdowns. Each and every week owners hoped that it would be the one when he crossed the line and time and time again they were let down.
Just because of how bad his season was I am going to get to the question pretty quickly on this one. Will the sophomore slump? Hell no. How could he. I wont go as far as to say he will be the superstar that he was predicted to be but he would be hard pressed to preform worse then last year. Short of a season ending injury he will bounce back in 2016.
The real question is how much will he bounce back? To figure that out let’s look at what caused his downfall last year. Injuries, injuries, and more injuries. That one word can summarize the 2015 Chargers. Their O-line, receivers, and Gordon too all suffered some form of injury last season. Most of them year long affairs. By the end of the season the team was a shell of what it could have been. The injuries started at their O-Line, the Chargers only had one O-lineman start in all 16 games last season. They failed to consistently control the line of scrimmage and in turn Gordon found himself stuffed more often than not.
Next their passing game took a hit as multiple of their top receivers suffered injuries removing any threat from the air. Then there are the injuries Gordon suffered personally. He started the season with an ankle injury that limited him for multiple games, followed by a season ending knee injury against Miami. The team turned to Danny Woodhead as their only form of offense.
This year the Chargers Offense should look to bounce back in a big way. Their players have healed up, their line wont be a rotating door, and their passing attack will be even better with the addition of Travis Benjamin. All signs point to Gordon being the player he was predicted to be last year except for one big red flag. Gordon’s knee still isn’t fully healed and on top of that he had a micro fracture surgery in his foot during the off season. During videos of drills he has been seen favoring his other leg and certainly isn’t confident going all out. There is still plenty of time before the season starts but, no matter how good the rest of the team looks his health concerns along with his poor 2015 performance will keep his ADP down.
He is currently being drafted as running back 27 and 64th overall. With his ADP so low he has some substantial upside. In 2015 the coaches kept giving him the ball no matter how poorly he played, they haven’t made any moves to replace him, and have said he is “looking great during the conditioning part of camp.” They are still focused on making him a big part of the offense and as we know opportunity is everything in fantasy. As the Chargers’ main back a healthy Gordon has the potential for over 1,000 yards and certainly more than 0 touchdowns. While some people will shy away because of his past performance, keep an eye out closer to season start because at his ADP he will be a steal if he is healthy.