Melvin Gordon: I'm still a 'high-caliber' RB

Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon wants to pick up where he left off.

The two-time Pro Bowler had a slow start to his first season with Denver in 2020, and it may have prevented him from posting the best individual campaign of his career. Now he's looking to prove he's still a consistent runner - and that the late-season surge he enjoyed last year was a sign of things to come.

"I don't want people to feel like, 'He's lost a step, he's this or that,'" Gordon said this week, according to Broncos team writer Aric DiLalla. "I almost went for 1,000 yards last year while sharing the ball. ... It's important to not only show people but also show myself that I'm still this high-caliber back."

Gordon, 28, was held to just 439 yards (4.1 per carry) and four touchdowns on the ground through his first eight games in 2020. But he improved in the final stretch of the year, rushing for 547 yards (5.0 per carry) and five scores in the last seven games to finish as the Broncos' rushing leader.

The 2015 first-round pick ended the 2020 campaign with a team-high 215 carries, significantly more than Phillip Lindsay's 118.

The Broncos let Lindsay go this offseason, but that doesn't mean Gordon won't have backfield competition in 2021. Denver used its second-round pick in this year's draft to select running back Javonte Williams 35th overall.

"Obviously, they bring in competition every year and every position," Gordon said. "You can look at things in two different fashions. With the Javonte situation ... you could look at it as they brought him here to replace me. Or you can just look at it as it's just another way for me to get better - another guy to push me to greater heights and see what I can do, see what I can bring, and bring it out of me."

The coming campaign will be a contract year for Gordon, providing extra motivation for a player who apparently doesn't want to wear a different jersey in 2022.

"I really feel like this is the year to do what I need to do because I want to make Denver home," Gordon said. "I don't want to be a journeyman. I keep saying that. I want to really make Denver home."

Gordon spent his first five NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers franchise, averaging 253 carries for 1,013 rushing yards and nine touchdowns per 16 games played.

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