A lot is expected out of Sam Darnold and Le’Veon Bell in 2020. Just not any hardware.
Darnold will enter his third season in the league and second season in Adam Gase’s offense. Bell, meanwhile, will look to shake off any rust that hindered his 2019 season. While it would be hard for the two to not have better years statistically, don’t peg either as a favorite for Most Valuable Player.
Darnold and Bell are more than longshots to be the league’s MVP in 2020. According to BetMGM, Darnold is 100/1 odds to win, putting him in the same class as Nick Bosa, Nick Chubb, Josh Jacobs, Alvin Kamara, Khalil Mack, Michael Thomas and J.J. and T.J. Watt.
Bell is much further down the list at 150/1, tied with incoming rookie quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa, as well as veterans Ryan Fitzpatrick and Nick Foles. Second-year quarterbacks Gardner Minshew and Drew Lock also have the same odds as Bell, as do Odell Beckham Jr., Todd Gurley, Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins.
The sports betting world is not exactly buying into Bell having a bounce-back season after the worst statistical year of his career. Bell rushed for a career-low 789 yards on 245 attempts in 2019, adding three touchdowns. In addition, Bell added 461 yards on 66 receptions and a touchdown.
On the other hand, Darnold is slowly making progress. Despite playing in just 13 games due to a bout with mono, the quarterback completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,024 yards, throwing 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The Jets are not expecting an MVP season from Bell or Darnold, but neither are the oddsmakers. However, an improvement is most certainly in the cards.