La’Mical Perine is about to get an NFL master class from two of the best to ever run the football.
Between Le’Veon Bell and Frank Gore, Perine will learn from a duo that has played a combined 22 years in the NFL, totaled more than 28,000 yards and scored 143 total touchdowns. That’s not something most rookie running backs get, but it’s exactly what Perine will have at his fingertips in his first season in the NFL.
In a way, Perine is the perfect combination of Bell and Gore. He categorizes himself as a hard-nosed and bruising runner – like Gore –who can also catch passes out of the backfield – like Bell. Perine averaged 5.0 yards per rush in four years at Florida and also caught 72 passes for 674 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I feel like me and Le’Veon will be a great duo,” Perine told the team website after the draft. “That’s a guy I look up to as a running back. We have similar games. I feel like I can catch the ball well like he can.”
Perine has a lot of quality abilities the Jets clearly like, but there are gaps in his game. He lacks some open-field quickness, patience behind the line of scrimmage and pass-blocking skills. Bell will provide first-hand experience on how to become one of the most versatile rushers in the league.
Gore should be an even better teacher for Perine as a powerful runner and because of his past experiences mentoring young rushers like Carlos Hyde, Marlon Mack, Kenyan Drake and Devin Singletary. All five were better players after working with Gore, and it’s part of the reason why Joe Douglas brought the veteran in this offseason.
“We’re really excited about the chemistry he’s going to bring to the running backs room and to the locker room,” Douglas said. “He’s really going to help the guys like La’Mical Perine, Josh Adams and Kenny Dixon. It’s a relatively young running back room right now behind Le’Veon, so he’s definitely going to help those young guys and he’s going to be a great example for them moving forward.”
Bell doesn’t have as much experience mentoring players, but he dipped his feet into the leadership pool and publicly said all the right things during his first year in New York, even with constant talk about his relationship with Adam Gase. Bell, at 27, embraced being one of the older, more experienced guys in the room, which bodes well for Perine.
Gore appears fully on board with the mentorship program for Perine. After he signed with the Jets, Gore mentioned how excited he was to work with Perine and Bell.
“And I’m happy to be around a guy who has done some great things in this league in Le’Veon Bell,” Gore said. “That can motivate me. And I can help out the young kid that they just drafted, La’Mical Perine.”
Perine likely won’t see a lot of snaps early in the season given the uncertain state of the sports world and the presence of a fresh Gore. That’s fine. Perine needs to be a sponge in the locker room, the film room, on the sideline and in practice while he learns the ins and outs from the two veterans in front of him.
Next year’s offseason will be an important one for the Jets. Bell’s contract becomes easily expandable and Gore will inch closer to 40. If Perine can gain enough knowledge from the two rushers in front of him, he could make a quick jump in his sophomore season, become the Jets’ starting running back and save the team a lot of money in the process.