The fantasy world, it seems, is desperate to find out where Melvin Gordon is going to sign. The latest has him talking with the Baltimore Ravens about a contract, a signing that would simultaneously buoy the value of Javonte Williams and crush that of J.K. Dobbins. Just sign already, Melvin!

It's been an interesting fantasy ride with Gordon over his career. First he was a star with the Chargers. Then there was a contract squabble that saw him pushed aside and overshadowed, and then the committee in Denver. Through it all, Gordon has put up big numbers.

Since his breakout second, Pro Bowl season with the Chargers (2016), Gordon has put up more total yards than all but two running backs: Ezekiel Elliott, and Derrick Henry. Only four running backs have scored more touchdowns (and just 1-2 more in each case). I'm not sure anyone has ever considered Gordon an elite running back, but he's been an elite producer.

Table shows running backs by total yards from scrimmage over the past six seasons. Data from pro-football-reference.com was used in compiling this table.

RUNNING BACK YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGE, 2016-2021
PlayerGTotalRunRecRu/GRec/GTot/GTD
Ezekiel Elliott8896307386224483.925.5109.468
Derrick Henry867643679784679.09.888.868
Melvin Gordon8475555503205265.524.489.967
Alvin Kamara7375014238326358.144.7102.868
Todd Gurley7570424976206666.327.593.869
Christian McCaffrey5866023587301561.852.0113.847
Dalvin Cook5663194820149986.126.8112.942
Mark Ingram8460474683136455.816.272.048
Joe Mixon6658864564132269.220.089.241
David Johnson7157673466230148.832.481.245
Le'Veon Bell6156773777190061.931.193.029
Aaron Jones6956114163144860.321.081.353
Nick Chubb585567481675183.012.995.939
Austin Ekeler7255382812272639.137.977.045
Leonard Fournette6355063810169660.526.987.435
Kareem Hunt5951533557159660.327.187.444
Jordan Howard715014436165361.49.270.639
Latavius Murray914996400299444.010.954.943
Carlos Hyde814922417674651.69.260.833
Kenyan Drake8949193384153538.017.255.237
Devonta Freeman6748763416146051.021.872.834
Frank Gore774795396083551.410.862.217
LeSean McCoy6847393415132450.219.569.730
Saquon Barkley4444192937148266.833.7100.527
James Conner6543923054133847.020.667.644
Chris Carson494306350280471.516.487.931
Tevin Coleman7741602901125937.716.454.135
Josh Jacobs433839308775271.817.589.328
Adrian Peterson643780324353750.78.459.124
David Montgomery443732280892463.821.084.824
Jamaal Williams7337042586111835.415.350.721
Jonathan Taylor323639298065993.120.6113.732
Lamar Miller453618293468465.215.280.418
Devontae Booker9333432119122422.813.236.013
Phillip Lindsay563309279951050.09.159.120
Miles Sanders403303243986461.021.682.612
Isaiah Crowell453143249065355.314.569.815
Devin Singletary453023233269151.815.467.214
Dion Lewis713019202099928.514.142.616
Matt Breida643010228172935.611.447.013
Bilal Powell512767206670140.513.754.211
Ronald Jones552745217457139.510.449.919

Gordon turns 29 years old next week, which seems like one foot in the grave in running back terms. But last year he put up over 1,100 total yards, 10 TDs, and averaged 4.5 yards per attempt while in a committee and on a team without much of a passing game. If he signs with Baltimore, he'll look like a lot more than an insurance policy for Dobbins and Gus Edwards, both coming off ACL injuries. If he returns to Denver, it's probably reasonable to assign him 30-40 percent of the backfield, at a minimum. With any luck, it will happen in the next few days and we'll know which running back to prop up in the rankings, and which one to downgrade.

--Andy Richardson