On a rebuilt Cleveland team, wide receiver Josh Gordon is clean, sober and fully prepared to succeed on the field again. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Josh Gordon’s comeback is one step closer after the Cleveland Browns removed him from the active/non-football injury list on Saturday.

I know. I know. Whenever Gordon is mentioned in fantasy football conversations someone in the room inevitably spouts off:

“DUDE! He was something five freakin’ years ago!”

In this day and age of 24-hour news cycles, instant information and constant yearns for expeditious gratification, an abrasive response tied to the once troubled receiver is justified.

1,826 days. 43,829 hours. 2,629,743 minutes. 11 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson movies.

DUDE! That was an eternity ago.

Imagine for a second what a half-decade ago in the NFL looked like. TV debaters hilariously argued about the future “greatness” of recent draftees E.J. Manuel, Geno Smith and Mike Glennon. Select individuals talked up Michael Vick as THE No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts. And annual obituaries penned about Frank Gore’s impending playing demise commenced; pieces some of us are still waiting to publish.

But that year, 2013, a statistical torrent unleashed from one of the unlikeliest sources.

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Gordon began his pro football journey sans the typical camera flashes, overindulgent glitz and dapper attire touted NFL draftees experience. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft, an exercise even the most dedicated football fan pays minimal attention to.

Demons from his upbringing in Houston, extensive drug use which followed him to Baylor then Utah, nearly ended his NFL career before it began. He was an obvious risk. Still, for an individual with enrapturing measurements (6-foot-3, 225-pounds), his freakish athleticism was too tantalizing for Cleveland to pass up.

As we all know, the gamble paid off. His 50-805-5 opening act, the fifth-most yards recorded by a first-year player in franchise history, opened eyes.

The following fall, Gordon entered September riding a lightning bolt. Though attached to a trio of quarterbacks most would describe as “several steps below acceptable” – Brian Hoyer, Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell – and after serving a two-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, a harbinger of dark days to come, he shocked the sports universe. He left defenses powerless. Records fell by the wayside. Exuberant fantasy fans erected shrines in his honor. Gordon’s 87-1646-9 line, achieved in only 14 games, was the single greatest season by a 22-year-old wide receiver in NFL history.

However, the unfortunate events that followed is the story most recount. Addiction, festering inside the wideout for years largely due to high anxiety and immaturity, became a seemingly irreparable wound. The hammer dropped. Nearly expelled permanently from the league, he suited up just five times 2014-2016. Still, during his stint selling Chevy Suburbans at a car dealership in Randolph, Ohio, his legend grew to a mythical Sidd Finch level. Reflecting on the past kept the fantasy community captivated and optimistic.

When would Roger Goodell come to his senses? Would he ever gift Gordon another chance? If so, could the wideout thrive again?

Officially reinstated November 30, 2017, Gordon, cold off the street, strutted into Los Angeles enveloped by unknowns. In vintage fashion, he, despite Deshone Kizer’s numerous overthrows, defied the odds and delivered four catches for 85 yards. The Chargers’ Casey Heyward, one of the game’s staunchest cover corners who squared off against Odell Beckham Jr., Tyreek Hill and Demaryius Thomas earlier in the year called him his “toughest matchup” to date. The reborn receiver totaled 18 receptions, 335 yards and a score over five games, the 21st-most valuable WR output during the stretch. Even his most defiant critics were awestruck. The long layoff hadn’t squelched his immense talent.

Back from a planned mental maintenance … or “Hard Knocks” dodge … or both, his disappearance sent his ADP of 40.3 WR19 pre-news to 50.4 and WR25 afterwards. That hasn’t changed much in the week he’s been with the team (49.7 WR19). But don’t be fooled, Gordon is about to embark on a fantasy redemption tour for the ages.

Here’s why:

Gordon’s final stat line form 2017 didn’t draw rave reviews, but considering the circumstances it should. Extrapolate what he accomplished in five games over a full season (58-1072-4) and he was essentially T.Y. Hilton, a useful WR2-WR3 in 12-team formats. Spectacular? Not quite. Employable? Undoubtedly.

Story continues