Seattle has gotten the green light to bring back Josh Gordon for the final two weeks of the regular season. Expectations should be modest.
Back in the day, Gordon was a remarkably talented guy. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, and with unusual speed, there can be difference-making component in his game. When he’s on, he can be like another Julio Jones. Gordon is only 29, so maybe they can squeeze or a key play here or there.
Back in 2013, Gordon put together one of the greatest seasons ever by a wide receiver. After sitting out the first two weeks serving a league suspension, he came back and caught 87 passes for 1,646 yards and 9 TDs for a horrible Cleveland team with scatter-armed quarterbacks.
But that was seven years ago. Gordon didn’t play at all in 2015 or 2016, and in the last four years, he hasn’t been quite the same playmaker he’s been in the past.
In the last five years, he’s played in 28 games, catching 86 passes for 1,498 yards and 6 TDs. He’s been primarily a deep threat, averaging 17.4 yards per catch.
In his last 16 games (his last season’s worth of work, so to speak) he’s caught 45 passes for 750 yards and 2 TDs.
The Seahawks had him for five games last year, with modest results: 7 catches for 139 yards, with no touchdowns. His highlight catch during that brief run was a 58-yarder at Carolina.
In his six games for New England last year, Gordon caught 20 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown.
With DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, the Seahawks are set at wide receiver. I would expect they’ll rotate in Gordon for a few plays, primarily as a deep threat. Russell Wilson might be the best deep-ball thrower in the league. They’re probably hoping that Gordon can maybe catch a long ball or two in the postseason, or maybe at least worry defenses, pulling away coverages from other players.
But I don’t think we’re going to get to the point where somebody will be able to put Gordon in a fantasy lineup with any realistic hope of getting positive production.
| JOSH GORDON GAME LOGS, LAST FIVE YEARS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Tm | Opp | Result | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Snap% |
| 2017 | Browns | at LAC | L 10-19 | 11 | 4 | 85 | 21.3 | 0 | 76% |
| 2017 | Browns | G.B. | L 21-27 | 6 | 3 | 69 | 23.0 | 1 | 91% |
| 2017 | Browns | Balt. | L 10-27 | 10 | 5 | 47 | 9.4 | 0 | 86% |
| 2017 | Browns | at Chi. | L 3-20 | 8 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 83% |
| 2017 | Browns | at Pitt. | L 24-28 | 7 | 4 | 115 | 28.8 | 0 | 83% |
| 2018 | Browns | Pitt. | T 21-21 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 1 | 78% |
| 2018 | Patriots | Mia. | W 38-7 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 0 | 22% |
| 2018 | Patriots | Ind. | W 38-24 | 4 | 2 | 50 | 25.0 | 1 | 26% |
| 2018 | Patriots | K.C. | W 43-40 | 9 | 5 | 42 | 8.4 | 0 | 81% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at Chi. | W 38-31 | 7 | 4 | 100 | 25.0 | 0 | 95% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at Buff. | W 25-6 | 6 | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 0 | 84% |
| 2018 | Patriots | G.B. | W 31-17 | 9 | 5 | 130 | 26.0 | 1 | 80% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at Ten. | L 10-34 | 12 | 4 | 81 | 20.3 | 0 | 83% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at NYJ | W 27-13 | 5 | 5 | 70 | 14.0 | 0 | 76% |
| 2018 | Patriots | Min. | W 24-10 | 3 | 3 | 58 | 19.3 | 1 | 65% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at Mia. | L 33-34 | 9 | 5 | 96 | 19.2 | 0 | 86% |
| 2018 | Patriots | at Pitt. | L 10-17 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 92% |
| 2019 | Patriots | Pitt. | W 33-3 | 4 | 3 | 73 | 24.3 | 1 | 70% |
| 2019 | Patriots | at Mia. | W 43-0 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 80% |
| 2019 | Patriots | NYJ | W 30-14 | 11 | 6 | 83 | 13.8 | 0 | 88% |
| 2019 | Patriots | at Buff. | W 16-10 | 7 | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 0 | 89% |
| 2019 | Patriots | at Was. | W 33-7 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 11.8 | 0 | 86% |
| 2019 | Patriots | NYG | W 35-14 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 31% |
| 2019 | Seahawks | at S.F. | W 27-24 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 0 | 37% |
| 2019 | Seahawks | at Phil. | W 17-9 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 33% |
| 2019 | Seahawks | Min. | W 37-30 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 36% |
| 2019 | Seahawks | at LAR | L 12-28 | 5 | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 0 | 56% |
| 2019 | Seahawks | at Car. | W 30-24 | 1 | 1 | 58 | 58.0 | 0 | 37% |
(Game logs taken from Josh Gordon bio page at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan