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Green Bay Packers wanted to take Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon in 2015 NFL Draft

The Packers never had a chance to take Gordon in the 2015 NFL Draft, but he was a serious consideration if he had fallen on draft day.
Lorin Cox|
Former Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon announces the team’s selection with the 86th overall pick during the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Former Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon announces the team’s selection with the 86th overall pick during the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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If things had gone differently, Melvin Gordon could have played for his hometown team in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers never had a chance to take the Wisconsin Badgers running back in the 2015 NFL Draft, but he was a serious consideration if he had fallen on draft day.

At this year's NFL Draft in Green Bay, Gordon told the story of his pre-draft meeting with the Packers back then and the connection he felt with the team.

The Packers told him on the front end that they weren't expecting to draft him because they knew he would be off of the board before they had the chance.

Green Bay was picking 30th in that draft after going 12-4 and taking a trip to the NFC Championship game the year before.

Gordon went 15th overall to the then-San Diego Chargers.

He certainly wasn't upset about being taken earlier in the first round (and the bigger contract that comes with it), but he knew deep down it would have been cool to play for a Packers team he grew up watching from Kenosha.

Green Bay didn't end up taking a running back in that draft, and they had a disappointing season from Eddy Lacy in 2015 that marked the beginning of the end of his time with the Packers.

Gordon could have provided a big boost to the running game, had they gotten the opportunity. It would have been fun for everyone.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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