Usage / Role
100%
Featured offensive role
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Player Dossier
2011-2014Wisconsin
Melvin Gordon
RB • 6'1" • Kenosha, WI, USA
Workhorse runnerBig-play efficiency
Melvin Gordon leans workhorse runner traits and 69.6 efficiency.
Impact Production
82
High-end production for a back
lowelite
Reliability
100
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
73
High-upside career profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2014 Postseason · Wisconsin
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Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Wisconsin
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Nebraska
Player Story
Melvin Gordon built his college career from 2011 through 2014 as a running back from Kenosha, WI wearing No. 25, spending time with Wisconsin. The clearest part of Melvin Gordon's career was his backfield work: 4,915...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Wisconsin
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2011
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2015
- Selection
- Round 1 · Pick 15
- Overall
- No. 15
- NFL Team
- Los Angeles Chargers
Melvin Gordon, RB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2014 Postseason · Wisconsin. Melvin Gordon leans workhorse runner traits and 69.6 efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Scrimmage yards
- 5,143
- Rushing yards
- 4,915
- Receiving yards
- 228
- Touchdowns
- 49
Featured Highlight
Watch Melvin Gordon on film
Melvin Gordon Wisconsin Highlights
2014 · Wisconsin · Player Highlight
Melvin Gordon college highlights at Wisconsin.
- Season
- 2014
- Type
- Player highlight
Quick Answers
Melvin Gordon quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Wisconsin · RB
- Career Scrimmage Yards
- 5,143
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 43 games
- Best season
- 2014 Postseason · Wisconsin
- Top game
- Nebraska
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Bradford · Wisconsin
- High school pipeline
- Bradford · 9 FBS recruits · 2 drafted players
- NFL Draft
- 2015 · Round 1 · Pick 15 · Los Angeles Chargers
- Latest roster
- No. 25 · Class 2014
- 2014 Scrimmage yards rank
- 2,740 scrimmage yards · RB 1st (top 1%) · Big Ten 1st (top 1%) · National 1st (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Scrimmage | Rush Yds | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 3 | 98 | 98 | 0 | 1 | 46 |
| 2012 Postseason | Wisconsin | 13 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 2012 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 13 | 635 | 570 | 65 | 4 | 36 |
| 2013 Postseason | Wisconsin | 13 | 148 | 143 | 5 | 0 | 72.2 |
| 2013 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 13 | 1,471 | 1,466 | 5 | 12 | 72.2 |
| 2014 Postseason | Wisconsin | 14 | 253 | 251 | 2 | 3 | 84.3 |
| 2014 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 14 | 2,487 | 2,336 | 151 | 29 | 84.3 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Melvin Gordon
Melvin Gordon played RB for Wisconsin. Across 4 tracked seasons, Melvin Gordon recorded 4,915 rushing yards, 228 receiving yards, and 49 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2014 with Wisconsin.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2014 Postseason
Wisconsin paired 2,740 primary output with 69.6 efficiency.
Supporting note
2013 Postseason role shape
backfield-heavy usage with 75.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2014 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Arizona State
Loss with 193 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2013 Postseason · Wisconsin
Games
13
Scrimmage Yards / G
124.5
Efficiency
75.1
Usage
27.4
Consistency
76.2
Best Game by takeover score
Arizona State
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Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. South Carolina: 148. Massachusetts: 144. Tennessee Tech: 140. Arizona State: 193. Purdue: 147. Ohio State: 74. Northwestern: 177. Illinois: 142. Iowa: 62. BYU: 86. Indiana: 146. Minnesota: 69. Penn State: 91
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
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High volumeHigh quality
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High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. South Carolina: 25 by 60.4. Massachusetts: 13 by 96.2. Tennessee Tech: 9 by 100. Arizona State: 15 by 100. Purdue: 16 by 88.3. Ohio State: 15 by 51.4. Northwestern: 23 by 80.9. Illinois: 17 by 84.8. Iowa: 17 by 38. BYU: 19 by 47.1. Indiana: 13 by 96.8. Minnesota: 12 by 59.9. Penn State: 13 by 72.9
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins123.7 · Games = 9 · -2.8 vs Losses
Losses126.5 · Games = 4 · +2.8 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Scrimmage Yards
Top game by takeover score
Arizona State
Best efficiency game
100 vs Arizona State
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 1/1 | @ South Carolina100 rush yards | L 24-34 | 25 | 143 | 5.70 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5.9 |
| Sat 11/30 | vs Penn State | L 24-31 | 13 | 91 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 7 |
| Sat 11/23 | @ Minnesota | W 20-7 | 12 | 69 | 5.80 | 0 | — | — | 5.8 |
| Sat 11/16 | vs Indiana100 rush yards | W 51-3 | 13 | 146 | 11.20 | 1 | — | — | 11.2 |
| Sat 11/9 | vs BYU | W 27-17 | 19 | 86 | 4.50 | 0 | — | — | 4.5 |
| Sat 11/2 | @ Iowa | W 28-9 | 17 | 62 | 3.60 | 0 | — | — | 3.6 |
| Sun 10/20 | @ Illinois100 rush yards · 2+ TD | W 56-32 | 17 | 142 | 8.40 | 3 | — | — | 8.4 |
| Sat 10/12 | vs Northwestern100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 35-6 | 22 | 172 | 7.80 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Sun 9/29 | @ Ohio State | L 24-31 | 15 | 74 | 4.90 | 0 | — | — | 4.9 |
| Sat 9/21 | vs Purdue100 rush yards · 2+ TD | W 41-10 | 16 | 147 | 9.20 | 3 | — | — | 9.2 |
| Sun 9/15 | @ Arizona State100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | L 30-32 | 15 | 193 | 12.90 | 2 | — | — | 12.9 |
| Sat 9/7 | vs Tennessee Tech100 rush yards | W 48-0 | 9 | 140 | 15.60 | 1 | — | — | 15.6 |
| Sat 8/31 | vs Massachusetts100 rush yards | W 45-0 | 13 | 144 | 11.10 | 1 | — | — | 11.1 |
Player Story
Melvin Gordon story
Melvin Gordon built his college career from 2011 through 2014 as a running back from Kenosha, WI wearing No. 25, spending time with Wisconsin. The clearest part of Melvin Gordon's career was his backfield work: 4,915 rushing yards, 631 carries, 45 rushing touchdowns, and 228 receiving yards across 43 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2014 with Wisconsin. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
The value of the career arc is that it connects production to role, not just a name on a roster. His career also includes 228 receiving yards and 174 return yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 43 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Wisconsin.
The arc is straightforward: Melvin Gordon moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Wisconsin
2011-2014
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2011201220122013201320142014
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 98 | 52.2 | 11.7 | — |
| 2012 Postseason | Wisconsin | 686 | 66.4 | 8.6 | 588 |
| 2012 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 686 | 66.4 | 8.6 | 0 |
| 2013 Postseason | Wisconsin | 1,619 | 75.1 | 27.4 | 933 |
| 2013 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 1,619 | 75.1 | 27.4 | 0 |
| 2014 Postseason | Wisconsin | 2,740 | 69.6 | 45.1 | 1,121 |
| 2014 Regular Season | Wisconsin | 2,740 | 69.6 | 45.1 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Nebraska
Week 12 · W 59-24 · Conference game
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
408
Scrimmage Yards
100 takeover
408 scrimmage yards and 43.9 usage.
#2
@ Arizona State
Week 3 · L 30-32
193
Scrimmage Yards
97.7 takeover
Loss with 193 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.
193 scrimmage yards and 32.6 usage.
#3
vs Northwestern
Week 7 · W 35-6 · Conference game
177
Scrimmage Yards
90.2 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
177 scrimmage yards and 34.3 usage.
#4
@ Northwestern
Week 6 · L 14-20 · Conference game
259
Scrimmage Yards
84.5 takeover
Loss driven by a workhorse rushing load.
259 scrimmage yards and 55.1 usage.
#5
@ Purdue
Week 11 · W 34-16 · Conference game
249
Scrimmage Yards
82.7 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
249 scrimmage yards and 45.2 usage.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2014 Postseason · Wisconsin
2,740 primary output · 69.6 efficiency · 45.1 usage
84.3
#2
2014 Regular Season · Wisconsin
84.3
2,740 primary · 69.6 efficiency · 45.1 usage
#3
2013 Postseason · Wisconsin
72.2
1,619 primary · 75.1 efficiency · 27.4 usage
Milestones
22
100+ rush yards
12
150+ scrimmage yards
13
2+ TD games
Next best actions
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