Melvin Gordon is one of the most consistent running backs of his generation — a player whose career coefficient of variation places him among the most reliable performers at the position. Year in, year out, Gordon delivered without dramatic peaks or valleys — the kind of player who earns trust, not headlines.

On the boards· Appears on 1 board

#44Two-way playersof 60

RBBAL#33DEV

Melvin Gordon

2× Pro BowlTop 9% all-time RBsElite Playmaker🌅 Early Bloomer · 2016 Team Carrier · #91

Height6'1"

Weight

Career Value · VORP

147 career value over replacement — #681 all-time of 4,695. 16.3/season above a replacement-level RB.

Career Profile

5 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks 2-phase playertwo-way Mr. ReliableCV 0.29

Draft OutcomeValue ↑

Pick #15 (Rd 1) · LAC · 2015 · +13.8 vs expected KV-H

71actual

57.2 expected · Δ+13.8

💔+35.2 stolen VORP·2.16 szns lost

Fan Rating

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Compare Melvin Gordon vs Player Report data error

Team Carrier Evidence

Ranked #91 of 568 by seasons where high individual production happened on low-win teams. Score aggregates only tracked StatVault categories.

Full board

Total Score

3 qualifying seasons

2020 DEN·5 team wins#10

Rushing Yards · 986 · score 32

2019 LAC·5 team wins#11

Rushing Touchdowns · 8 · score 30

2020 DEN·5 team wins#13

Rushing Touchdowns · 9 · score 26

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 36% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

36% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader36

2 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader67

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leader at this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 94%.

Encyclopedia Coverage6/8 data layers

StatVault aggregates multiple open-licensed and proprietary sources into a single profile. The depth indicator above shows which layers are available for this player.

Bio & DraftBirth date, height/weight, draft round/pick, college — sourced from nflverse players.csv (CC-BY 4.0). Covers all NFL eras.

Season Stats (1999–present)Week-by-week box scores aggregated to season totals: passing, rushing, receiving, defense. Source: nflverse player_stats. Counting stats are exact; rates are derived.

Advanced (EPA, 1999–present)Not available for this player

Snap Counts (2012–present)Offensive, defensive, and special-teams snap counts with team-share percentages. Essential for OL and situational players. Source: nflverse snap_counts.

Where this data comes from

Modern-era stats (1999+) come from nflverse's open data releases. Pre-1999 seasons are backfilled additively from Wikipedia and NFL.com's own official season pages — never from rights-restricted sources.

nflverse — CC-BY 4.0 — attribution required
Wikipedia — Facts extracted under Feist v. Rural Telephone; courtesy CC-BY-SA attribution
NFL.com — Official league site; facts extracted under Feist, courtesy attribution

Methodology · Trust Center

Per-Snap Impact

Running Backs · proprietary · 2012+

Above average

SIS

Yards / snap:2.139 ydsSee leaderboard →

Yards/snap2.139Touch rate0.474EPA/snap0Snap share53.9%Off snaps4,233ConsistentCV 0.12

Production per snap — the box score normalized by opportunity. SIS is z-scored within running backs, shrinkage-regularized so small samples don't spike, over the NFL snap-count era (2012+).

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Combine · 2015

Percentiles compare each raw measurement against position peers, the full combine pool, and the same draft class where enough samples exist.

RB · 2015 class

4.52s

40-Yard

Above avg · 61th pct

Pos 61thAll 75thClass Pos 80thClass All 82th

35"

Vertical

Above avg · 58th pct

Pos 58thAll 65thClass Pos 50thClass All 61th

126"

Broad Jump

From Scrimmage · Career

Scrimmage Yds

9,056

6,543 rush · 2,513 recv

Total TDs

56 rush · 14 recv

Total Touches

1,905

1,593 carries · 312 rec

Yds / Touch

4.8

rushing + receiving

Career Milestones8

Major career thresholds crossed, derived from regular-season totals (1999+).

20161K career rushing yards
20171K career receiving yards
2017100 career receptions
20183K career rushing yards
201825 career rushing TDs
20205K career rushing yards

Understanding These Stats

Rushing

Att — Rushing attempts (carries).

Yds — Rushing yards.

TD — Rushing touchdowns.

Y/A — Yards per carry — rushing yards ÷ carries. The core rushing efficiency rate; 4.5+ is solid, 5+ is elite.

TD% — Touchdown rate per carry (TDs ÷ carries × 100) — measures scoring efficiency per touch independent of volume. Red-zone workhorses lead here.

1D — First downs gained on rushing plays.

1D% — First-down conversion rate (first downs ÷ carries × 100) — how often a carry moves the chains. Top RBs convert on 25%+ of attempts.

Fmb — Rushing fumbles lost — the key ball-security stat for running backs. Below 1 per season is elite.

Receiving

Tgt — Targets — how many times the receiver was thrown to, regardless of completion.

Rec — Receptions — catches made.

Yds — Receiving yards.

Postseason Career

2 playoff games

Rushing

Att26Yds55TD2Y/A2.1TD%7.71D41D%15.4

Receiving

Tgt3

College Stats

WisconsinCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Wisconsin), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

Top Teammates

Philip RiversQB5y Keenan AllenWR5y Melvin IngramLB5y Adrian PhillipsDB5y

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Melvin inherited the Los Angeles Chargers RB room from LaDainian Tomlinson (2001–2009), and handed it to Austin Ekeler (2017–2023).

Don Woods 1974–1980Chuck Muncie 1980–1984James Brooks 1981–1983Lionel James 1984–1988Rod Bernstine 1987–1992Ronnie Harmon

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

2023team change
Joined BAL (from DEN)
2023final season
Last recorded season with BAL
2020team change
Joined DEN (from LAC)
2017team change
Joined LAC (from SD)
2015draft
Drafted by LAC — Round 1, Pick 15
2015team change
Joined SD (from LAC)

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

6'1" / 215 lb

Frame

215 lb at 4.52s

Size-speed

35" vert / 126" broad

Explosion

19 reps

Bench power

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 9-season peers. See all →

peak 76

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

B2015

B+2016

B+2017

B+2018

B2019

B+2020

B2021

C+2022

F2023

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 9 seasons.

76%

Era Translator

Rush Yds translated to the 2025 NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual Rush Yds	Rush Yds/G	→ 2025 Rush Yds	→ 2025 /G
2015	641	45.8	840+199	49.4
2016	997	76.7	1,421+424	83.6
2017	1,105	69.1	1,224+119	72
2018	885	73.8	1,298+413	76.4
2019	612	51	902+290	53.1
2020	986	65.7	1,122+136	66
2021	918	57.4	982+64	57.8
2022	318	31.8	558+240	32.8
2023	81	20.3	344+263	20.3

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats, nflverse:snap_counts, nflverse:combine, nflverse:draft_picks · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 8/31/2026

Defensive StatsNot available for this player

College StatsCollege attribution is present, but this profile artifact does not yet carry a parsed college stat table.

NFL Combine / Pro Day40-yard dash, vertical, broad jump, 3-cone, shuttle, bench press. Source: nflverse combine.csv.

Proprietary LayersKV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — era-normalized career rating 0–100 calibrated within position group (1999+ coverage). SIS (Snap Impact Score, 2012+) — per-snap production z-scored within position. VORP — value over replacement player. Durability IQ — games-played percentile adjusted for era.

Pre-1999 players have bio + draft data but counting stats are not available from any freely-licensed source. Players with ★ Career Only see verified career aggregates from nflverse draft_picks.

Pos 90thAll 89thClass Pos 91thClass All 91th

19 reps

Bench

Below avg · 41th pct

Pos 41thAll 38thClass Pos 46thClass All 37th

7.04s

3-Cone

Above avg · 60th pct

Pos 60thAll 67thClass Pos 64thClass All 68th

4.07s

Shuttle

Elite · 93th pct

Pos 93thAll 93thClass Pos 93thClass All 91th

250 career receptions

202150 career rushing TDs

TD — Receiving touchdowns.

Ctch% — Catch rate — receptions ÷ targets × 100. Measures how reliably a receiver turns opportunities into gains. 70%+ is elite.

Y/R — Yards per reception — receiving yards ÷ receptions. Measures big-play ability; 15+ is elite for WRs.

Y/Tgt — Yards per target — receiving yards ÷ targets. The single most complete receiving efficiency metric: accounts for both drops and incomplete targets. Elite receivers post 8+ yards per target.

AirYd/T — Air yards per target — average depth of route at time of target. High values indicate a deep threat role; low values indicate a slot/check-down role.

1D — First downs gained on receiving plays.

Snap Counts (2012–present)

Off / Off% — Offensive snaps played and share of team total. The most reliable usage metric for skill positions and OL.

Def / Def% — Defensive snaps played and share of team total.

ST / ST% — Special-teams snaps played and share of team total.

Proprietary StatVault Metrics

KV-H (Knox Value-Historical) — Era-normalized career rating 0–100 within position group, calibrated so a 50 = average starter and 90+ = all-time great. Covers 1999–present. Built on a 5-year IQR/robust-std era window.

SIS (Snap Impact Score) — Per-snap production z-scored within position group and era (2012+). Measures how much a player produced per opportunity, not raw volume.

VORP (Value Over Replacement) — Sum of max(0, season KV-H − positional replacement level) across a career. Measures career value above the minimum-roster baseline at each position.

Durability IQ — 0–100 score reflecting how many games a player played relative to peers at the same position in the same era. Adjusts for injury-shortened seasons.

Snap Counts

Off67Off%46.5%

Melvin Gordon 2015–2019

The room is reconstructed from arrival order among durable members (≥4 seasons with the club) at the player’s position group — a lineage by arrival, not a week-by-week depth chart. Distinct from the league-wide positional GOAT torch.