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Fantasy Football Mailbag- Monday, July 15th

By Dylan Tice

OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Melvin Gordon #28 of the Los Angeles Chargers carries the ball against the Oakland Raiders during the second half of their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Melvin Gordon #28 of the Los Angeles Chargers carries the ball against the Oakland Raiders during the second half of their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on November 11, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Fantasy Football: CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 14: Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon III (28) runs after making a catch during the first quarter of the National Football League game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Cleveland Browns on October 14, 2018, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, OH. Los Angeles defeated Cleveland 38-14. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Welcome back to our second installment of our segment, Mailbag Monday! This segment is dedicated to answering readers Fantasy Football questions in-depth by breaking it down.

If you would like to be in the next Fantasy Football mailbag Monday article, please DM me on twitter @Dylanticeff. Without further ado, we got 5 questions that I’m dying to answer, so let’s get straight to it!

Question 1: Submitted by Gabriel Duran: When it comes to the Los Angeles Chargers, is Melvin Gordon Fantasy Football replaceable? 

Answer With Melvin Gordon currently in the news stating that he plans on sitting out of training camp and will request a trade if the Los Angeles Chargers don’t give him a new contract, this is the first question I want to start with.

I know most people in the community believe that all RB’s are replaceable (Le’veon Bell for example), but I’m going to say no, Melvin Gordon is not replaceable. Over the last 3 seasons, Gordon has finished as a top-7 running back every year. From a fantasy standpoint, Gordon finished as the RB6 last year despite only playing 11 games.

If Gordon didn’t get hurt last year, we would be talking him up as a top-3 pick in fantasy leagues this year. During the first 6 weeks of the season before his injury, Gordon was the RB2 overall during that span, only behind Todd Gurley. In fact, 4 of the 6 weeks, he finished as a top-5 fantasy RB.

Tons of the community are fan-boys of Austin Ekelar but he really isn’t all that good when Gordon is injured. When Gordon missed games last year, Ekelar and Jackson had zero finishes as a top-10 RB. Ekelar only had one good game from weeks 9-13 and had 3 games where he finished outside the top-40 RB’s for those weeks. When Justin Jackson was involved last year, he wasn’t anything special.

He was only waiver wire worthy late in the season because of the volume he was getting with Gordon out. Overall, it’s evident that Gordon is a top-7 running back in the league and the Chargers should treat him as such. If they move Gordon, they go from Super Bowl contenders, to a playoff team with no chance at making a run for it.

The offense is way more unpredictable with Gordon in the backfield. Pay the man!

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