Denver Broncos: FA running backs who would pair well with Phillip Lindsay

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CARSON, CA – DECEMBER 22: Running back Melvin Gordon #25 of the Los Angeles Chargers celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Oakland Raiders during the first half at Dignity Health Sports Park on December 22, 2019 in Carson, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

1. Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

Although on the surface, Melvin Gordon seems to be just as productive on a per-play basis as Royce Freeman currently is for the Broncos (4.3 yards per touch for Freeman, 4.5 yards per touch for Gordon), there’s no denying that Gordon has been one of the most productive ‘featured’ backs in the league over the past few years in terms of putting the ball in the end zone.

After a shocking rookie season in which he didn’t score at all, Gordon has been on fire over the past four seasons, scoring 47 total touchdowns for the Chargers.

The way the Chargers deployed both Gordon and Austin Ekeler is something I had not previously considered from the Broncos’ context and something that could possibly work quite well.

Gordon is obviously a more physically gifted and more proven productive player than Royce Freeman at this point, but take a look at how he and Austin Ekeler did together with the Chargers this past season.

2,458 yards from scrimmage (combined)
20 total touchdowns
428 total touches
5.74 yards per touch (combined)

Essentially, the Chargers figured out a formula to make Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler one of the best running back duos in the league, and Ekeler was able to eat an extremely high volume of touches both as a runner and receiver.

The Broncos want to be able to use Lindsay in a similar way, so perhaps they could take a page out of the Chargers’ book here. Although the Chargers didn’t necessarily win a bunch of games with this combination, they were undoubtedly tough to defend for opposing teams and the 20 combined touchdowns between the two of them really stands out.

Perhaps Gordon, who is much more the type of back to be able to eat carries in comparison to Lindsay, could be the ideal complement in free agency.

It will come down to price.

Right now, Gordon is expected to command a contract north of $11 million per season, and that is just tough to stomach from the Broncos’ perspective. Even if you anticipate Gordon will give you roughly one touchdown per million bucks, that’s a tough amount of cash to shell out to a back.

If the Broncos can get him at under $10 million per season, that’s intriguing to me.

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