I was thinking the same thing when watching him play again this year. I honestly didn't think he'd come back and be nearly the same guy...hence not even bothering to go after him prior to his return. But, I was thoroughly impressed. He was doing it all, short, medium and deep routes upon his return without any time to even get on the same page with his rookie QB who was arguably one of the least accurate this year in the league.dm1129 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:53 pm To put it bluntly, I do not know what the posters who think Gordon is one dimensional are looking at. In his return game after being out of football for over a 1000 days against a very good/elite cb, he caught passes from both the slot as well as the outside WR positions while running nearly every route in the route tree. Ironically, Gordon is the opposite of a player who just looks good from the numbers. In this game, he caught 4 of 11 targets. Just looking at the numbers you would think 'meh' or 'yikes', but when actually looking at tape, it becomes clear that he could have had a monster game with even an average QB. His Pro Day 40 is 4.52, but it is obvious he plays much faster than that. He routinely gets behind defenses time after time. His playing speed is elite. I do not view his hands as a problem. In 2013 when he led the league in receiving, he had 8 drops on 159 targets. For context, in that same year Calvin Johnson had 8 drops on 157 targets while having a lower catch percentage than Gordon. Calvin also averaged over 100 ypg while surpassing 100 yards in half his games and the Lions had a losing record in those games. I mention Johnson because to me Gordon is a similar type of WR. Gordon will never be as crisp in route running as an AB or OBJ, but he is also a completely different WR physically and can dominate physically in a way that they cannot. It has to be kept in mind that Gordon has played his entire career with bad to horrific QB play.
What is his potential? His potential is to be the WR1, but several things would have to line up for that to happen in the same way things for AB or OBJ, etc..have to line up in a season for them to be the WR1. I have zero concern about his talent on the field. The QB situation is very likely to improve significantly and Gordon will have a complete off-season to get into football shape and develop chemistry with the QB. The risk with Gordon is off the field. No one knows with any certainity he will be successful at staying clean.
He has a different game than OBJ and Brown. So does Dez Bryant and he was a #1 top flight WR three years in a row. Talent isn't an issue with Gordon and he's not one dimensional. Might he get suspended? Yes, a definite possibility, perhaps even banned from the league. Might the surrounding cast and coaching schemes suppress his numbers? Yes, that may happen as well. But, the sky is the limit as far as his on field talent goes.
