Would Melvin Gordon and Rams be a match made in heaven in the City of Angels?

After waiving leading rusher Darrell Henderson Jr. on Tuesday, the Rams need a running back. Melvin Gordon, recently waived by Denver, makes sense as a replacement.

The Rams clearly need to punch up their running game. In Week 11 against the New Orleans Saints, Cam Akers and Kyren Williams took a majority of the rushing attempts (21-of-30) and ended the day with just 97 yards. 

Akers has 237 yards rushing this season, averaging just 3.1 per carry. Williams has only eight rushing attempts. The Rams have the second-fewest rushing yards this season (761), beating out only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (707).

Adding a veteran presence to the backfield who played well in a timeshare in the past like Gordon could bolster the running game for the Rams. 

Gordon ran the ball 90 times for 318 yards and caught 25 passes for 223 yards with the Denver Broncos this season. He scored two touchdowns, but he’s dealt with fumbling issues, dropping the ball five times this year. 

Denver waived Gordon on Monday after fumbling for the fifth time during the Broncos game against the division-rival Las Vegas Raiders. 

The Rams won a championship by picking up players late in the season last year. They added linebacker Von Miller at the trade deadline and signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. after the Cleveland Browns waived him.

While the 3-7 Rams are in a much worse position this season then they were last year, Gordon would come cheap and could help Akers and rookie Williams — who have played a total of 25 games in the NFL — develop going into next season. 

The Rams also wouldn’t really benefit from tanking the rest of the season — they don’t have a first round pick because they traded it away for Matthew Stafford before the 2021 season. An engaged fan base might be worth a slightly lower pick in the later rounds of the draft.    

Although he’s had trouble holding on to the ball, Gordon could increase the pass-catching stats of L.A.'s backfield — an advantage for a team that will be without its best wide receiver in Cooper Kupp for at least a couple more weeks.    

The Rams can get Gordon at a discount, and he would slot right into the position vacated by Henderson as both a runner and a receiver.