Is Melvin Gordon Sneaky Slow?

ESPN - SAN DIEGO – Melvin Gordon has to turn off his mind and let his legs and natural instincts do the work.

Not that the San Diego Chargers’ offensive line provided a lot of room to run against a stout Seattle Seahawks’ defensive front. But when the Chargers created a crease, Gordon again failed to take advantage of it.

Case in point: On first-and-10 from Seattle’s 26-yard line late in the first half, Gordon had an open lane and a one-on-one opportunity with talented Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.

Sherman’s an elite defensive player, but these are battles good running backs in the NFL win on a consistent basis.

Gordon could have bounced outside and beat Sherman to the corner. Instead, he hesitated, bounced inside and was tackled for a 2-yard gain.

Gordon said he had a similar play in San Diego’s first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys with a similar result -- a short run that should have been an explosive play.

“You’ve got to just go,” Gordon said. “I could have been physical and just tried to run him over. I was thinking I had the outside. I had that same play against Dallas and I could have taken it outside -- I was thinking about all of that in that matter of that time, and about the time it was time to go, he was on me.”

Everyone Need to calm down about Melvin Gordon. The time to freak out is if he still looks like a lost dog with no burst after week 1. That's when we push the fire alarm and go full watch mode on him being a bum. If Gordon had busted one run for like 20 yrs this preseason (He's played in 2 games) this wouldn't even be a conversation. The offensive line isn't doing him any favors as of yet either but that's a WHOLE other issue(Chris Watt is not an NFL starting Center BTW. Wasn't even a starter at center in college. Centers are kinda important to blocking schemes. By kinda important, I mean by far the 2nd most important pre snap position on offense). 

Also the Chargers cannot be dumb enough to actually give Gordon the majority of the snaps anyways this season. They should def split normal down situations. Obviously Woodhead plays third down passing downs but should also get 30-50% of normal snaps as well.

I would be MUCH MUCH more worried about Gordon in pass protection. The dude is clearly as lost as possible. You would think after being in mini camps and preseason that he would have a better feel by now on blocking calls and schemes. His lack of awareness in protection might end up killing Phil Rivers. Good think Rivers got that guarantee money. I would be blitzing the shit out of the Bolts if they dare have Gordon on the field in obvious passing downs. (Check Out ESPN's production series called "Hey Rookie". They follow Gordon and Perryman through camp. Perryman not knowing you couldn't hit a feet first slide QB was concerning.)

It's obvious that Gordon is not playing with confidence but the lack of sample size of run attempts is impossible to predict out his future performance. But, if you want to nitpick this dude might not be NFL running back fast. He ran a 4.52 at the combine which is very good given the mean average of all RB's in the draft. But, the eyeball test is so much different when its with the ball as opposed to a track environment. Again, Could be completely wrong and its just a lack of confidence of why he looks slow hitting the holes. Also, Wisconsin history is not very favorable with the transition to the pro's based. Wisconsin runs heavy sets and are usually much bigger on the line than the opposition. They also run more more traps, pulls, and lead blocks than the Chargers offense has historic run in last couple years under McCoy and Reich.

But, Moving up in the draft and giving up picks to move up to get this guy will be a retarded move even if he ends up being good. This squad needs depth and desperate help on both sides of the ball in their central line play. I personally think Bradon Oliver's numbers of the same number of snaps this year would/will be very comparable. Everything comes down to his speed of hitting the hole and speed of comprehending pass protection. 

P.S. He should 100% go by Mel. No reason why but that just makes more sense in my brain.