The Denver Broncos have looked sloppy offensively, but the team still has a 2-1 record and sits tied for first place in the AFC West.
Though the offense has sputtered behind new quarterback Russell Wilson, the defense has been nothing short of superb. The Broncos are finding ways to win, as they did Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, but the offense has to get better.
One of the curious decisions that the coaching staff continues to make is how often Melvin Gordon is on the field. It makes absolutely no sense.
It is one thing to give Javonte Williams a breather here and there, but Gordon is starting to cut into his workload a bit too much. The team is also working Mike Boone into the rotation a bit more. Here are each running back’s snap count numbers for each game through Week 3.
Javonte Williams: 38-47-33
Melvin Gordon: 27-23-28
Mike Boone: 3-7-14
Getting Boone on the field more is a good thing, but you can see that Gordon is starting to eat more of Williams’ snaps and it was nearly a 50-50 split in Week 3. In addition, Gordon was on the field in key moments such as short-yardage and red-zone situations.
Gordon is not only largely ineffective, but he’s also far too prone to fumble the ball. He has a fumble in all three games this season and just doesn’t seem to be able to secure the ball at a high enough rate.
Williams has had his issues with fumbles as well, but he is a far more effective runner than Gordon. Just watch the way they run, the way they hit the hole. Williams is going to grind out the tough yards but he’s also going to break a big play much more often than Gordon.
Though releasing Gordon might be a bit extreme at this stage in the season, he needs to see far less snaps per game. Through three games, he is averaging 26 snaps per contest. That needs to be more like 18-20 at the most.
There is no indication that the coaching staff will make any drastic changes in this area, as it seems to like the two running backs being used about the same amount but at the very least, Williams should be the one with the ball in the key situations.