Getty Melvin Gordon III #25 of the Denver Broncos catches a ball one-handed as he warms up before a game.
After back-to-back solid outings to kick off his Denver Broncos career, Melvin Gordon’s output plummeted a week ago, much to the dismay of many fantasy football owners. The former Wisconsin standout was smothered by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense, collecting a mere 26 rushing yards on just eight carries.
With an injury-riddled roster and a new starting quarterback under center, will Gordon shine as the focal point of Denver’s offense in a plus-matchup against the dwindling New York Jets? Or, will Gordon once again fall victim to his surroundings, wasting away in an inept offense? Let’s discuss.
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Melvin Gordon’s Fantasy Outlook vs. New York Jets
Through the first two weeks of play, Gordon ranked as RB12 in PPR-scoring formats. Averaging 16.0 points per game at the time, the two-time Pro Bowler was vastly outperforming his preseason ADP, which placed him at RB21.
However, with Jeff Driskel at quarterback, the Broncos fell behind quickly to the Buccaneers in Week 3, limiting his usage. The good news, Gordon still dominated what backfield touches were made available, as the next closest running back collected just two rushing attempts. The bad news, Gordon only toted the rock eight times.
Those numbers should see a sizeable increase on Thursday night, likely approaching his first two week average of 17 carries per game. The Jets defense currently allows the ninth-most running back rushing attempts in football (24.7 per game).
You might be saying “but what about Phillip Lindsay?” What about him? Lindsay is currently listed as questionable for Week 4. With that said, the fact Denver promoted running back LeVante Bellamy likely points to him being unavailable come game time. Rotoworld has described the back-to-back 1K-rusher’s status as “probably on the wrong side of questionable.”
More importantly, even if Lindsay is a go, there should be more than enough carries to go around in a Brett Rypien-led offense. This is especially true against a Jets defense that allows the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs this season. Furthermore, New York has been one of the most welcoming defenses for running back duos in 2020. Gang Green has allowed two opposing running backs from each of their first three matchups of the season to score double-digit fantasy points.
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Should You Start or Sit Melvin Gordon in Week 4?
Gordon was a borderline RB1 to start this season and could very well finish Week 4 in a similar fashion. The Jets defense has surrendered the eighth-most rushing yards to the running back position this year, including four total touchdowns in their first three weeks of play.
Gordon has the look of a rock-solid RB2 in what will likely be an otherwise sloppy and uneventful game. If Lindsay is deemed active for Thursday night, he becomes a spotty flex-start, yet shouldn’t alter your view of Gordon much in any way.