Question for Charger's fans

[Moab]

There is a Charger's fan here that keeps saying Melvin Gordon is a bust. I think he's stupid and still butt hurt over the 624 yards in 2 games against the great Nebraska D. (maybe he can't come to terms with N's D those years being crap) It doesn't matter to me what put the sand in his vag, but I'm curious if you're happy with him and think he's a good player, or is he crap, a bust and the Chargers would be better off without him? Maybe this poster just doesn't understand what football is? I don't know his issue.

Help me out, please.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

This is a Chiefs fan speaking, but from Bolts fans I have talked too on several sites it sounds like the player himself was polarizing from the day he was drafted. Seems kind of complicated to untangle.

 

[cdumler7]

This is a Chiefs fan speaking, but from Bolts fans I have talked too on several sites it sounds like the player himself was polarizing from the day he was drafted. Seems kind of complicated to untangle.

I think for many Chargers fans there are a couple of things that play into that. The drafting of Ryan Matthews just a few years earlier and watching him bust I'm guessing put a pretty bad taste in their mouths about taking a RB so early. You throw in then that Wisconsin RB's really haven't done much in the NFL and it leads one to believe that was not a great decision on the part of the Chargers. Then his first year being such a bust again just makes it that much harder to take. Yes this year he has come on much stronger and looked like a good RB but still when you can find quality RB's throughout the draft I'm not sure I'm seeing anything out of Gordon that we haven't seen out some guys that have went undrafted even. Not the worst pick they have ever made by any means as he is a starter quality player but some pretty high quality players at bigger positions were taken not long after him.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I applaud your effort to reach out to 'Chargers' fans, but there's like 1 on these boards. Probably 0 active. Hammer was a Chargers fan I think but no idea what happened to him after he sold.

That said, Gordon is probably a huge disappointment. Prior to last week he hadn't done much this season, was a turnover machine his rookie year. San Diego needed huge secondary help with the impending loss of Weddle and let Peters go, there were also multiple O-Line picks that could've helped them.

Not to mention, the Chargers TRADED up to get him. Yes it only cost a 4th (2015) and 5th (2016) but those can be franchise changing picks if you hit on a guy... Look what Sherman/Chancellor did for Seattle, completely defined the defense.

I am pretty sure (if someone can find postings that old feel free) I gave Gordon a D grade. I was completely baffled by it, wasn't a huge fan of Gordon, and not for a team that I felt desperately needed to address O-Line/defense.

I also gave Elliott a D grade, partly because I still believe you could shove ANY capable runningback behind that line with fresh legs and he'd do fine. But whatevs.

 

[Bolts]

He was called a bust over a horrible rookie season where the OL sucked, play calling sucked, and he had shaky confidence which led to problems including fumbles. Also Woodhead got most of the goal line touches which is why he didn't score TD's.
This year he's been very good, being a smarter runner with less turnovers. Better run blocking and play calling(sometimes) has helped, and he has a lot of TD's because he gets all of the goal line runs.
Is he a bust? No, I think he's a good and could get better. The main reason I could see a Chargers fan upset that he's on the team is because they gave up a 4th and 5th round pick to move up for him. Not like they're 2nd round picks, but depth has been an issue on the team for years and those picks would have helped that. Is he worth those picks? It's hard to tell this early into his career. But right now I'm happy he's on the team and want to see him finish this season strong.

 

[klbynes500]

Prior to the last three games, Melvin Gordon sucked. Running with the intent to elude--whether attempting to elude defenders in the backfield with cuts, or attempting to elude defenders with cuts, past the line-of-scrimmage--and not hitting the hole, immediately--was the approach of Melvin. In these last three games, Melvin has embraced the North-and-South style of running; this style suites his physical build and his skill set. Personally, I don't think Melvin is a running back that can run to make defenders miss with elusiveness. He tried to run that way, and had very little success.

There was something else I said about Melvin: if he runs to the hole immediately and runs behind the push, immediately, Melvin would run for 20 more yards per game.

As a receiver, Melvin is serviceable. Other than being covered by a good cover LB, Melvin can hurt defenses as a receiver.

There's an unusual idea I have to benefit Melvin and the Chargers, in terms of winning the Super Bowl. Melvin is receiving too many carries. Granted, there's no Woodhead. However, I believe that we can possibly upgrade from a Woodhead, in the 2017 NFL Draft. If the RB Cook--from Florida State--slips in the draft, we could pick him, with idea to use him as a 2nd RB. Cook will bring a change-of-pace to Melvin. There's a possibility that Cook could receive an equal amount of carries that Melvin receives. It's an unusual idea by me, because I don't like to draft RB's in the 1st round, unless that RB has a chance to provide a Hall-of-Famer's production. There's, definately, no exception to my paradigm for a back-up RB. This unusual thought--of mine--was created, because the Chargers don't have many other pieces to gain to give them an excellent chance to win the Super Bowl. Cook might be the kid of whom can get the Chargers to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy--the last piece the Chargers would need to acquire via draft or from free agency.

Remember experts, Allen, Verrett and others will return, in 2017. From various Mock Drafts, I saw the Chargers selecting that Strong from LSU, or Cam from Alabama, or a WR from some mid-major D-1 school. Again, Cook would probably be the best to select for the Chargers, in the 1st round, in the 2017 Draft.

In the latter rounds and free agency, the Chargers can worry about possibly signing a Strong or an OT. It wouldn't make sense to sign another Strong when the Chargers' DB's have procured many coverage sacks and out-of-bounds attempts, this season. ...this is without Addai--our starting Strong.

 

[SteelersPride]

well hes a touchdown machine this year due to the fact theres no one left........hes all they have

however, he still avg 4.0 YPC, and thays only becase he just had a 200 yard game, take that away, and for the whole on the year, his YPC is sub 4.0 which stinks, which is what it was his rookie year

 

[SteelersPride]

actually sans last game he was at 3.5 ypc, through 8 games.......thats bad

 

[SteelersPride]

its acuttally like matt asiata, horrible YPC, td vulture

 

[Fountain City Blues]

well hes a touchdown machine this year due to the fact theres no one left........hes all they have

however, he still avg 4.0 YPC, and thays only becase he just had a 200 yard game, take that away, and for the whole on the year, his YPC is sub 4.0 which stinks, which is what it was his rookie year

Mmm, just from a process standpoint he is definitely improving just being more decisive which was a major killer for him. He was trying too much to be a more lateral runner than he actually is ala McCoy or Charles. Really he should be running inside more ala DeMarco Murray. He has always had the straight line speed and enough power to be a guy who can reliably get these chunk plays so I wouldn't be so sure it's just a fluke. I saw vaguely familiar arguments in 2009 when Charles was tearing the league apart that the big runs were unsustainable; really weird since CJ2K was a thing still at the time. It's only his 2nd year in the NFL. It has been kind of apparent to me he has really had to change what works for him in the NFL as opposed to college where his lateral agility was that much better than really everyone else in the BIG/College. I would guess he gets a 4.1-4.2 YPC going forward which is actually pretty solid with SD's OL being kind of iffy. Would love to jump on him and say he sucks being he's a Charger, but I don't think that's the case.

Just my opinion on the topic.

 

[night]

Before this season started he was a bust. Gordan is just now shedding the label this season after having a pretty bad rookie debut. It's hard to say if he can continue this production long-term, although I don't think I'd have him in the bust category anymore.

 

[night]

its acuttally like matt asiata, horrible YPC, td vulture

Asiata is an undrafted backup and nobody had high expectations for him.

 

[SteelersPride]

Asiata is an undrafted backup and nobody had high expectations for him.

exactly

 

[SteelersPride]

hows that 22 carries for 57 yards doing

2.6 ypc
me thinks the big game was an outlier

 

[SteelersPride]

where you at @Moab

 

[Bolts]

hows that 22 carries for 57 yards doing

2.6 ypc
me thinks the big game was an outlier

He has 5 games this season with a YPC over 4 and 5 with a YPC under 4, so maybe that game wasn't an outlier unless you were expecting him to get close to 200 rushing yards and 6 YPC a game. He also had 6 games of at least 40 receiving yards. Solid all around season imo.

 

[SteelersPride]

He has 5 games this season with a YPC over 4 and 5 with a YPC under 4, so maybe that game wasn't an outlier unless you were expecting him to get close to 200 rushing yards and 6 YPC a game. He also had 6 games of at least 40 receiving yards. Solid all around season imo.

with all due respect, even havinga 200 yard game, hes STILL at 3.9YPC for the season

 

[Brasky]

where you at @Moab

He didn't get the answers he was looking for. I'm the one who called him a bust. He couldn't deal.

 

[Brasky]

He was called a bust over a horrible rookie season where the OL sucked, play calling sucked, and he had shaky confidence which led to problems including fumbles. Also Woodhead got most of the goal line touches which is why he didn't score TD's.
This year he's been very good, being a smarter runner with less turnovers. Better run blocking and play calling(sometimes) has helped, and he has a lot of TD's because he gets all of the goal line runs.
Is he a bust? No, I think he's a good and could get better. The main reason I could see a Chargers fan upset that he's on the team is because they gave up a 4th and 5th round pick to move up for him. Not like they're 2nd round picks, but depth has been an issue on the team for years and those picks would have helped that. Is he worth those picks? It's hard to tell this early into his career. But right now I'm happy he's on the team and want to see him finish this season strong.

This is exactly why I can't stand him. Another dead weight pick in terms of progress. They just did not do their homework. He doesn't fit the offense at all.

Running Back picks are a particular sore spot for me seeing that I consider LT the greatest running back of my lifetime (28) and unless I know for a fact that a guy is gonna bring back that feeling of seeing a truly dominant running back play for the Chargers, I don't want anything to do with him in early rounds.

I viewed Gordon as a one trick pony in college with inflated numbers behind a gigantic offensive line playing shitty run defenses.

He didn't catch out of the backfield well and he could not make more than one man miss consistently.

It was never about being a Husker fan, it was 100% about being a Chargers fan. I could argue that until I was blue in the face to anyone who has talked to me about it and they still think I'm just sore about the big games he had.

 

[Brasky]

Plain and simple: I'd be perfectly fine with him if he fell to the 5th.

Did I think SD would take Abdullah? Yes. Was he a better fit? Yes. Would he have cost a 4th and 5th rounder? No.