What You Need to Know:

• Gordon carried 215 times for 986 yards and 9 TDs in 15 games last year. He added a 32-158-1 receiving line on 44 targets.
• Gordon finished 13th among RBs in PPR points and 12th in non-PPR.
• His 4.6 yards per carry was the 2nd best mark of his 6-year career and ranked 19th among 47 RBs with 100+ carries last season.
• Gordon ranked 10th among those 47 RBs in Elusive Rating and Pro Football Focus rushing grade.
• He wasn’t good in the passing game, ranking dead last in yards per target and yards per route run among 41 RBs with 30+ targets last year. He finished 39th in PFF receiving grade.
• Gordon missed Week 6 with a non-COVID illness. He’s missed 14 games across 6 NFL seasons.
• October DUI charges against Gordon were dismissed in March. There’s still a chance he receives a suspension from the NFL (although we’re not expecting it at this point).
• The Broncos parted ways with RB Phillip Lindsay this offseason but added free-agent RB Mike Boone and, most notably, rookie RB Javonte Williams.
• Denver traded up 5 spots to grab Williams with the 35th overall pick of this spring’s draft. The 5’10, 212-pounder busted out for 1,140 yards and 19 TDs on 7.3 yards per carry at UNC last year. He registered the best broken tackle rate since PFF started charting college players in 2014.
• Williams also caught 50 balls and averaged a strong 10.8 yards per catch across 3 college seasons.
• GM George Paton on Williams: "We just think he is a special back. A three-down back, really good on first and second down. He can pass protect, and he can catch the ball in the backfield.”
• Ten RBs were picked in the 1st half of Round 2 over the previous 10 drafts …
  • 6 carried 170+ times as rookies
  • 3 topped 190 carries
  • The median was 174 carries
• OC Pat Shurmur returns for his 2nd season with the Broncos in 2021.
  • The 2020 Broncos ranked 14th in pass attempts and 13th in run rate.
• The Broncos traded for QB Teddy Bridgewater, who will battle with QB Drew Lock for the starting job this summer. Whether Lock takes a significant step forward in 2021 or Bridgewater beats him out, Denver should get better QB play this season than last.
• Denver returns 4 of 5 starters from an offensive line that ranked 28th in PFF run-blocking grades and Football Outsiders adjusted line yards last year.
  • Free-agent addition Bobby Massie is expected to take over at RT. The 31-year-old missed the final 8 games of last season with a knee injury and ranked 40th among 89 qualifying OTs in PFF run-blocking grade.
  • The Broncos added Wisconsin-Whitewater C Quinn Meinerz in the 3rd round of this year’s draft. He’ll push C Lloyd Cushenberry for a starting spot.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Gordon remained effective on the ground last season and finished as a top-13 RB across fantasy scoring formats. But he struggled in the passing game, is entering the final year of his contract and will face competition from 2nd-round rookie RB Javonte Williams this season.

Expect this to be a committee backfield, with Williams a real threat to lead the team in carries. That leaves Gordon as just a RB3 in fantasy drafts.