At the end of the 2023 collegiate season, Ollie Gordon looked like he was going to be the next great running back to enter the NFL Draft. After a very disappointing 2024 campaign with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Gordon’s draft stock has plummeted. Is he going to be able to recover and show teams what he’s made of, or will it be revealed that his 2023 year was a fluke?
Height: 6 ft – 1 in
Weight: 226 lb
Age: 21
Position: Running Back
College: Oklahoma State
College Career Summary:
During the 2022 season, Ollie Gordon joined the Oklahoma State Cowboys but operated in a backup role. He appeared in 13 games but only started one of them, rushing for 308 yards. The following season saw him look completely different. He appeared and started in all 14 games for the team this season, rushing for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns alongside 300 receiving yards. He was one of the best players in college football in 2023 and many projected him to get drafted very early on in the NFL if this was anything to go off of. However, with all of this built hype around Gordon, he didn’t show up in 2024. He appeared and started in 12 games for the school, rushing for just 880 yards and 179 receiving yards with a significant drop off in touchdowns and yards per carry. The massive difference in production now has his draft stock falling much farther than he’d like it to. As he looks forward to the next part of his life, he ends his collegiate career with the Doak Walker Award, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, a selection to the First-Team All-Big 12 roster, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and a Unanimous All-American.
2024 Season
Games Played: 12
Yards: 880 rushing, 179 receiving
Touchdowns: 13 rushing, one receiving
Career Stats:
- 39 games played
- 2,920 rushing yards
- 40 total touchdowns
- 537 rush attempts
- 80 receptions
Passing/Rushing/Receiving/Defensive Metrics:
- 4 yards per carry throughout his career
- 3 yards per reception throughout his career
- 585 career receiving yards
Strengths:
- Great NFL frame with imposing physicality
- Challenges defensive backs tackling ability in the open field
- Workhorse running back capable of large workloads
- Stellar natural vision in zone concepts
- Contact balance is excellent, finishes runs strong
- Reliable hands out of the backfield, no drops in 2024
Weaknesses:
- Dances around trying to make big plays too often
- Pass protection isn’t ideal given his size and frame
- Lacking elite lateral agility that next-level NFL backs have
- Ball security could be a worry, with six fumbles in his career
High Pressure Situations/Clutch Gene:
First things first, you could say that the entire 2024 season was a high-pressure moment for Ollie Gordon. He was coming off a massive year and many people were projecting him to be a high draft pick. With his expectations the highest that they’ve ever been, he had a massively underwhelming year, along with the rest of the team as they lost their last nine games of the season. So, straight away you can see that Gordon didn’t exactly rise to the occasion this season. The year prior, he didn’t perform very well in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship against Texas either. In a 49-21 loss, Gordon had 13 rushes for 34 scoreless yards. He did have a good showing against Texas A&M in the TaxAct Texas Bowl the same year, taking 27 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. Finally, in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in 2022, he had 12 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown during a loss against Wisconsin. Although that game he did have a receiving touchdown. All in all, Gordon hasn’t exactly been the pillar of clutch play throughout his time in college, with this season being a key point in that.
NFL Projection And Fantasy Relevance:
Gordon was previously thought to be a much higher draft selection, but now he’s consistently projected to be drafted in the fourth round. Some have him ranked as high as the 60th-best player available, but that would have him taken at the end of the second round if that were to be completely accurate. So, chances are that he does get drafted at some point in the middle rounds, which opens the door to him landing in a plethora of different situations and teams. Given that this is a very deep running back class, he could fall a bit lower than he’s even projected, though I don’t think that will happen here. Gordon had such a strong 20234 campaign that at least one team will be looking past his disappointing 2024 season to regain the potential that they saw from the prior year. From a fantasy football perspective, he won’t be immediately great in standard formats. Luckily, in dynasty formats, he might have genuine value given the potential we saw from him before, and there’s a shot that an NFL team can get him into top-tier form with some development.
I was a big fan of Ollie Gordon coming into this season, I thought he’d wind up getting drafted in the first round if he could capitalize on his 2023 season. Unfortunately, that wasn’t even close to happening, and his stock is slipping further and further as the days pass by. Still, you don’t just run for 1,700 yards at the college level on accident. Gordon has talent, he just underperformed significantly in 2024, and there is certainly going to be a team that will take a shot at him to try and bring his talent to the forefront of his game at the next level. He’s got development that is necessary to his success at the NFL level, though his draft stock falling this much should give him the chip on his shoulder that he might need. Perhaps this could be the only nudge he needs in the right direction to come into the NFL swinging.