Good piece on Gordon
Gordon’s Contact Balance
The theme of this article will be parsing out Gordon’s 2023 production with his 2024 production because he looked like a completely different player on tape this past season.
His contact balance was one of the biggest areas of his game that regressed. Gordon is a big back — 95th percentile height, 83rd percentile weight — and he’s often billed as a physical bruiser.
That’s a fair assessment of his 2023 tape. This touchdown run against Houston shows Gordon’s ability to churn through contact and push piles for extra yards. There were so many physical runs like that one two seasons ago.
That led to Gordon racking up an absurd 1,056 yards after contact while averaging 3.71 yards after contact per rush and forcing 68 missed tackles.
However, Gordon’s contact balance was not the same in 2024. He went down at first contact a lot more often, as teams took advantage of Oklahoma State’s poor offensive line to get early penetration into the backfield.
This prevented Gordon from building a head of steam before dealing with rushers. That said, it also exposed some of Gordon’s most significant flaws. His natural contact balance is only average, as he doesn’t have the same strength if he doesn’t have a clean path.
In 2024, Gordon had just 614 yards after contact and forced 41 missed tackles.
This is a drawback to being a tall back. Defenders have more mass to hit, and because Gordon’s frame is leaner, he can’t absorb contact as well. His massive frame also makes it hard for him to change directions and make defenders miss.
Oftentimes, the running backs with the best contact balance are those with a shorter and stockier build.
Those types of backs have more mass in the center of their frame, allowing them to pinball off of tacklers, who have less total surface area to hit because the back is smaller. Plus, it’s easier for them to change directions.
What does this mean for Gordon and the Dolphins? Miami’s short-yardage troubles under head coach Mike McDaniel are well documented, and Gordon seems like the type of player who could help in that area.
The version of Gordon from last season might not be better suited for that role than Alexander Mattison or even Jaylen Wright.
Gordon’s Big-Play Ability
Long speed was never a strength of Gordon’s game, even going back to 2023. Still, he was capable of ripping off longer runs two seasons ago, thanks to a good initial burst through the hole.
This rep against Houston from 2023 is a perfect example of Gordon’s ability. His initial explosiveness to win the outside corner is good enough, turning this play into an explosive.
However, you can see him reach his top speed and start to slow down quickly, allowing the defender to push him out before the end zone. A player with better long speed scores a walk-in touchdown on this play, but that’s not Gordon’s game.
Running backs don’t have to be long-touchdown machines to be successful. Regardless of Gordon’s speed, the play above is a net positive for the offense.
The issue is that Gordon’s explosiveness seemed to disappear entirely in 2024. He had just five runs of 20 or more yards and just 20 runs of 10 or more yards. In 2023, he had 21 runs of more than 20 yards and 45 runs of more than 10 yards.
Now, the Cowboys’ offensive line deserves a share of the blame. However, even when Gordon was allowed to explode onto the second and third level, he looked much slower this past season.
Gordon ran a 4.61 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, which ranks in the 31st percentile among running backs at the combine since 2000. That’s not a good time, and 40-yard dashes are wildly overrated for running backs, but Gordon looked slow at all points last season.
Gordon’s Scheme Versatility
One of the more interesting parts of Gordon’s game that relates to the Dolphins is his experience with man and zone concepts. The Dolphins are a notoriously stubborn team in diversifying their running game.
The team is committed to running outside zone concepts and rarely strays from that. But Gordon could give them an excuse to run more power or duo concepts. Last season, Gordon ran 101 gap concepts and 88 zone concepts.
According to PFF, he graded slightly better on the gap concepts, and the film supports that. This rep against South Dakota State from this past season shows Gordon following his pulling blockers to pick up an easy first down.
Gordon’s Third-Down Skill Set
Gordon doesn’t profile as a typical receiving back, but he had a decent amount of usage across the last two seasons. He had 68 receptions for 509 yards and was mostly used on screens, flares, and dump-offs.
Although he’s not much of a route runner, Gordon had zero drops last season and was a quality part of the team’s passing game. Given Miami already has De’Von Achane, Gordon likely won’t be asked to contribute much in this area. Still, it’s a nice skill to have.
Gordon could make more of an impact by protecting the quarterback. His height and size were more of a deterrent to his running profile last season, but it makes him a powerful blocker.
Watch him accurately diagnose a blitz and knock this Colorado player off his feet right off the snap. Gordon is strong and aggressive, which is what any team wants in a pass protector.
The Bottom Line With Gordon
Gordon is a strange evaluation.
In 2023, he looked like a potential top-60 pick with enough burst, contact balance, and vision to be a high-level contributor for an NFL team. Last season, he looked like a player without a standout trait to win against NFL athletes.
Miami taking Gordon in the sixth round minimizes all of the risk that comes with that, though. If he doesn’t bounce back to his 2023 form, Miami still has Achane and Wright as lead backs with Mattison at RB3.
There’s really zero risk to selecting Gordon, but there’s plenty of upside.
Perhaps Gordon’s drop in play was more of a product of his environment at Oklahoma State. They were 3-9 last season, including losing nine straight games to end the year. Gordon didn’t get much help from his offensive line, and defenses could sell out to stop him because the Cowboys’ quarterback play was also bad.
There’s also been some reporting that Gordon played through injuries last season. He left a game against West Virginia with a leg injury and was seen limping around against BYU later in the season.
With the Dolphins, Gordon won’t be the offense's focal point. He’ll be a change-of-pace back for Wright and Achane. This can be a valuable role on the Dolphins’ offense, as the team has needed a player with this skill set for the past few years.
The question is whether Gordon can regain his form from two seasons ago because the version of Gordon that was on the field in 2024 might not beat out Mattison in training camp.
Running back might be one of the Miami Dolphins’ strongest position groups, but that didn’t stop them from adding to the room in the 2025 NFL draft. The team s
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