With the Los Angeles Chargers Week 1 win over the Colts, they proved they know how to win without a bell-cow back in Melvin Gordon.
If not for the never-ending soap operas that were Ezekiel Elliot’s contract situation and the Antonio Brown snafu, Melvin Gordon’s holdout from the Los Angeles Chargers while demanding a new contract would have been the biggest story of any regular offseason.
The star, but oft-injured, running back’s absence was seen as a hole in an otherwise stacked offense on paper. It was also seen as a media distraction as everyone was speculating on if Gordon would show up, or be shown out.
After defeating the Colts the way the Chargers did in Week 1, however, the decision to move on should be that much clearer.
Now, it’s easy to overreact after opening day in the NFL and, of course, the Colts were dealing with the aftermath of the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck. However, it’s the way that the Chargers emerged victorious that’s so noteworthy.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
They won with a well-balanced attack that featured Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson rushing for 58 and 57 yards, respectively, which is as balanced of a rushing attack one can ask for from a yardage perspective. The former also caught two touchdowns while also rushing for one in a breakout performance. While Ekeler and Jackson have always been a part of the offense with Gordon active, now they have a chance to truly shine.
This is exactly why it’s time to move on.
For starters, Gordon has only played in 16 games once in his career, with the results ranging from the wildly mediocre (zero touchdowns in his rookie season) to solid (two seasons with 10 touchdowns). He also only cracked 1,000 yards once in 2017 with 1,105 (granted he had 997 in 2016). With this production, this holdout is barely worth the headache. In today’s NFL, a legitimate No. 1 running back is not how you win.
Who is the most successful franchise in not only the last 20 years of the NFL but sports in general? If your answer is not the Tom Brady–Bill Belichick lead New England Patriots, then I don’t know what to tell you.
The one constant about the Patriots’ run, aside from the Hall of Fame quarterback and head coach, is that they also always feature running backs by committee, with no “featured” back.
It hasn’t just been the Patriots either. The Pittsburgh Steelers have been the same way pretty much since the 1970s when their consistent run of competitiveness began.
The Super Bowl champions of the new millennium often feature two, sometimes three running backs during their championship seasons. We touched on the Patriots, and the team that defeated them in Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles have been operating very similarly.
The Denver Broncos in 2015 featured C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. The 2012 Baltimore Ravens had Ray Rice as their man, but Bernard Pierce was there to take the load off. The Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints at the turn of the decade by no means had dominant rushing attacks but featured a lot of parts.
As for the New York Giants two Super Bowl titles this millennium, they always featured a multitude of backs. Same with Peyton Manning’s Colts. By the time Manning got over the hump, Edgerrin James was no longer “the guy” in the backfield. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002 rode a dominant defense and a power running game with Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman.
You would have to go back to the Greatest Show on Turf Rams in 1999 with Marshall Faulk, a back who could do literally everything in an already high powered offense, or maybe the Ravens in 2000 with Jamal Lewis, to see a Super Bowl champion featuring one main back. But even the Ravens featured a young Priest Holmes as well.
The lone exception to this rule would possibly be the Seattle Seahawks featuring Marshawn Lynch, but that team was so much about their defense that it didn’t really matter. Besides, Russell Wilson rushed for 539 yards that year, so he was basically a change of pace back at that rate.
With a veteran/possible Hall of Fame quarterback in Philip Rivers, well-balanced position players, strong offensive line, a good coach in Anthony Lynn and a solid defense, this new approach with multiple backs splitting time and catching passes out of the backfield should benefit the Chargers more than having Gordon.
Now is as good of a time as ever to move Gordon. It has been reported that, without a new contract, he plans doesn’t plan on reporting for another six to eight weeks. His value will never be higher and the team can get a haul for him to help build their team moving forward.