Rams should call Melvin Gordon after Broncos waive running back

Like the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Broncos are enduring a difficult season at 3-7 and doing so without their own first round pick. The Broncos continued to overhaul their roster on Monday, waiving starting running back Melvin Gordon after his fifth fumble of the season helped lead to a 22-16 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Gordon is not a premier back and he’s never lived up to the hype as the 15th overall pick in 2015 (the next running back off the board after the Rams chose Todd Gurley) but L.A. isn’t in a luxurious position at running back either. Should the Rams make a claim?

Gordon has 90 carries for 318 yards and two touchdowns, averaging only 3.5 yards per carry, but he’s also caught 25 passes for 223 yards. However, he fumbled in a Week 1 loss to the Seahawks, he fumbled twice in a Week 3 win over the 49ers (Denver recovered both, otherwise that could have led to a loss too), and he fumbled in both losses to the Raiders.

The Rams got 14 carries for 61 yards out of Cam Akers in Week 11, plus saw the debut of rookie Kyren Williams. However, Darrell Henderson is all but out of L.A.’s gameplan and the Rams are still one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL. At the trade deadline, it’s worth wondering if L.A. would have offered even a seventh round pick for Gordon.

Now they could pick him up without giving up a pick, but they would have to pay the rest of his salary. Because of that, it seems likely that Gordon will clear waivers and then a team could sign him to the veteran minimum. And Gordon can choose which team he wants to go to.

Should the Rams give it a shot with nothing left to lose?