Le’Veon Bell will see the lion’s share of touches for the Jets in 2020 but that doesn’t mean the team shouldn’t look for backup options for him.
Bell wore down late in the 2019 season, which forced the Jets to lean more on players like Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery. However, it appears unlikely that either backup running back will return to New York in 2020.
One player who just hit the open market who could fill in for Bell is Dion Lewis. The Titans released Lewis after two mediocre seasons in Tennessee and the emergence of Derrick Henry as a feature running back. Lewis will be 30 by the time the 2020 season starts, but his skill set as a pass-catcher could be useful in the Jets offense.
Adam Gase likes running backs who can catch. He’s typically employed at least one in his offense since he was the Broncos offensive coordinator in 2013. Players like Knowshon Moreno in Denver, Matt Forte in Chicago and Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams in Miami enjoyed solid receiving years as running backs under Gase. Bell is already one of the better dual-threat rushers in the game, so it would make sense to double up similar styles of play.
The problem with Lewis besides his age is his production and size. Not only is he one of the smaller running backs in the league at 5-foot-8 and 197 pounds, but he also wasn’t nearly as effective in 2019 as he was in years prior.
Lewis saw his production drop significantly just a year after wracking up 1,100 combined yards and nine touchdowns on 212 touches with the Patriots in 2017. After he signed a four-year, $19.8 million deal with the Titans in 2018, Lewis tallied only 917 yards and two touchdowns with almost double the snap shares. His yards per rush also dropped from 5.0 to 3.3 despite 25 fewer attempts. Things only got worse in 2019 when he finished with 373 yards and one touchdown on only 79 touches.
Lewis actually saw an uptick in production when Ryan Tannehill took over midway through the 2019 season, so he can’t blame seasonal fatigue or a quarterback change on his bad season. His usage went up from 4.1 touches per game from Week 1-10 to 6.3 touches from Week 12-16.
The Jets are in the market for a backup running back if they don’t keep Powell or Montgomery. Only Josh Adams and Trenton Cannon are under contract behind Bell and neither inspire confidence if Bell needs a break. Lewis could be a quality role player on the Jets but doesn’t make much sense to sign considering his limited usage potential, though. He saw a slightly higher snap share in 2019 compared to Powell and Montgomery, but Lewis’ DYAR – Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement – fell slightly lower than Powell. That means, while Powell may have played fewer snaps and tallied fewer stats, he was a better runner than Lewis in 2019.
If the Jets are unafraid to sign an aging backup, they’d be better off keeping Powell around another year. Otherwise, they could be better off finding a more talented backup pass-catching running back either in the draft or elsewhere.