Wisconsin Badgers tailback Melvin Gordon was already in the conversation for being a first round NFL Draft pick in 2015. If the NFL still believes by that time that running backs are worth taking in the first round. However, given the way Melvin Gordon is tearing up Big Ten defenses now, I think you need to think about Gordon being the 2014 NFL Draft convo.
As a redshirt sophomore, Melvin Gordon is eligible. At the very least, you need to consider Melvin Gordon as a front-runner for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award. ( Big Ten MVP)
Melvin Gordon put up some sick numbers again today versus Northwestern. He ran for 110 yards, on just 10 carries. In the first half alone. his 71 yard touchdown run gives him 7 runs of 30+ yards, 4 of 60+, and 3 of 70+. These numbers are leading all of college football. By halftime of the Badgers Wildcats game, Melvin Gordon increased his rushing average to 10.4 yards per carry.
With Braxton Miller looking mediocre, Venric Mark and Taylor Martinez getting hurt, Devin Gardner not being good, and Carlos Hyde getting suspended, you have to put Melvin Gordon at the top of the Big Ten MVP list.
And again you have to consider him for the 2014 NFL Draft. Other tailbacks who go ahead of him/potential first round picks include Lache Seastrunk or De’Anthony Thomas. But Melvin Gordon might have both of them beat. He’s a tailback unlike any we’ve seen at UW-Madison. And of course, there have been some great ones at Wisconsin. Those great college tailbacks don’t really do much in the NFL (Montee Ball is not off to a great start, Ron Dayne was a bust, Michael Bennett had some good years with the Minnesota Vikings then flamed out, John Clay and Anthony Davis were busts) but that’s another story.
Melvin Gordon is different from those other Badgers backs. He’s more of a home run threat. He entered today’s game with the best yards-per-carry average of anyone in the nation (9.4) and right up there with anyone of the last 15 years (Percy Harvin Florida 9.5).
I’ll be back later with postgame reaction from Melvin Gordon and updated stats.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan and 1620 The Zone, he also writes for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook, subscribe to his RSS feed here