Clayton: There’s a reason Broncos RB Melvin Gordon gets overlooked

Broncos running back Melvin Gordon said he’s sick of being overlooked in the NFL.

“I feel like I’m so overlooked,” he told 104.3 The Fan’s Broncos Insider Troy Renck from Denver7. “That may be because we didn’t get a lot of TV time with the Chargers, and last year spitting the ball and the fans not being there because of COVID. I don’t know. But I get overlooked a lot and I am kind of sick of it.”

I tend to agree. Despite sharing the position with Phillip Lindsay, Gordon rushed for 986 yards in 15 games and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. He’s been selected to two Pro Bowls.

Of course, a lot of backs are overlooked. Only eight running backs are making more than $10 million a year. In the past two years, of the 32 teams, not one starting running back started 16 games.

Teams shy away from paying big money to running backs. They have a shorter shelf life than other positions. Once a back gets to the age of 27 or 28, teams tend to start to look for younger ball carriers. Some get decent contracts, but many do not.

Look what happened to Gordon with the Chargers. He was hoping for big money. The Chargers offered him $10 million a year in 2019. He held out and the Chargers went a different direction in 2020.

Gordon hit the free agent market and ended up signing with the Broncos. His two-year, $16 million contract was the highest among free agent running backs. Sure, Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon got more than $10 million a year, but those were in re-signings.

To think that the best a back can do with a cap that went up more than $10 million in 2020 getting $8 million in free agency is telling. Backs got beat up this year with cap dropping eight percent. The best anyone did was this year was Kenyon Drake getting a two-year deal at $11 million, a mere $5.5 million a year.

What probably causes Gordon to be overlooked is his career rushing average of 4.1 yards per carry. The problem was his first three years. In those seasons, he averaged 3.5, 3.9 and 3.9 yards per carry. In his fifth year, Gordon averaged 3.8. Still, he’s had eight to 10 touchdowns per season after his rookie season.

Gordon is a good back, but like so many he gets overlooked. Welcome to the club, Melvin.