Tag: Jets running backs

Jets RB Le’Veon Bell promises ‘the best year of my career’ in 2020

Le’Veon Bell believes he’ll have his best year of his career in 2020.

Le’Veon Bell has assured Jets fans that his 2019 season will not define his tenure in New York.

Bell only rushed for 789 yards, three touchdowns and averaged 3.2 yards per carry in his first season with Gang Green. Now, as the 2020 season approaches, he is determined to rectify his numbers and even outperform his production with the Steelers.

“I’ll be so much better, I didn’t give nearly enough… I PROMISE YOU, long as I’m healthy, this will be the best year of my career… & it won’t even be close,” Bell said on Instagram.

Despite not having a strong offensive line in front of him or receiving consistent usage from his head coach, Bell is not making any excuses for his poor play last season. He simply blamed himself.

“Everybody talked about the offensive line and everybody talked about me not getting the ball, but, damn, Le’Veon, were you at your best?” Bell told ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “I can literally look at myself in the eye and say, ‘No. No, I wasn’t.'”

This upcoming season the Jets should have more pieces in place to help Bell. New York will have a completely revamped offensive line that could feature five new starters. The Jets also signed Frank Gore to be Bell’s backup. The Gore signing should take some of the pressure off Bell’s workload.

Ultimately, it’s going to be up to Bell to prove that he still has the legs to be a top running back in the league. The Jets paid him to be one last offseason when they signed him to a four-year, $52.5 million deal. In year one, the Jets didn’t get much for their investment.

If Bell lives up to his promise, that won’t be an issue in 2020.

La’Mical Perine signs 4-year rookie contract with Jets

The Jets have signed La’Mical Perine to a four-year deal.

The New York Jets have locked up their potential running back of the future.

The team announced Thursday it has signed rookie running back La’Mical Perine to a four-year contract. According to the Daily News’ Manish Mehta, the deal is worth $4 million. Perine’s 2020 cap charge will be $796,000.

With Perine coming to terms on a deal, the Jets have now signed four of their nine draft picks. The other three rookies signed are Bryce Hall, Cameron Clark and Denzel Mims.

The Jets selected Perine in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of the University of Florida. As a four-year player at Florida, Perine rushed for 2,485 yards, averaged five yards per carry and had 22 rushing touchdowns. Perine also had 72 catches for 674 yards and eight touchdowns.

Perine is going to be fighting for the No. 3 running back spot on the depth chart behind Le’Veon Bell and Frank Gore. Josh Adams, Trenton Cannon and Kenneth Dixon will join Perine in the competition.

Even if Perine doesn’t win the job, he’ll gain plenty of knowledge from Bell and Gore. That should bode well for Perine when he could be in line to nab the starting job down the road.

WATCH: Le’Veon Bell gets shifty in Madden 21 trailer

Jets running back Le’Veon Bell makes brief appearance in Madden 21 trailer.

While Le’Veon Bell is not on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden 21, he did make an appearance in the game’s trailer.

In the 1minute, 30-second video released by EA Sports on Tuesday, Bell is shown at about the 16-second mark. In his brief appearance, Bell puts a nasty juke move on a Buffalo Bills defender.

The Jets are going to want to see a lot of that from Bell in 2020. He wasn’t able to get in second gear enough last season, mainly because of the offensive line in front of him. However, it did look like Bell might have lost a step after sitting out all of 2018.

In Bell’s first season in New York, he recorded 789 rushing yards on 245 rushing attempts. Bell added 461 receiving yards as well to go along with four total touchdowns.

With a lighter workload and not as much pressure on his legs in 2020, the hope is that Bell can return to his Steelers form when he was one of the league’s top running backs.

Jets RB Frank Gore never mulled retirement after consulting with son

Frank Gore didn’t consider retiring from football after consulting with his son, Frank Jr.

Despite being the oldest player in the NFL at his position, Frank Gore never considered hanging up his cleats this offseason.

Gore spoke to the media for the first time since signing with the Jets on Thursday. On a Zoom call, Gore was asked if he had thought about retiring. He hadn’t.

“I felt like I still could do it,” Gore told reporters. “I just had to see what team would give me an opportunity.”

The 37-year-old even consulted with his son, Frank Jr., a running back like his dad who is beginning his freshman year at Southern Miss. Frank Jr. agreed with his father that he could still play at a high level.

“He said, ‘I think you could go one more,'” Gore said. “So, I said, all right, I’m going to go.”

Gore signed a one-year deal with the Jets worth $1.05 million. He’ll serve as the No. 2 running back behind Le’Veon Bell. Gore should see a good share of the carries, considering Adam Gase wants to lessen the load for Bell in 2020.

Gore was fascinated by New York, primarily because of Gase. The two spent the 2008 season together in San Francisco with Gore being the lead back and Gase as an offensive assistant. They then reunited in Miami in 2018.

“I’ve known Adam for a long time,” Gore told SNY’s Jeane Coakley. “He’s been a great man to me.”

Frank Gore’s deal with Jets worth just over $1 million

Frank Gore’s contract with the Jets is worth $1.05 million.

The Jets got veteran running back Frank Gore on the cheap.

Gore’s contract is a one-year deal worth $1.05 million, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. He’s fully guaranteed $250,000 of his $1.05 million base salary. The cap charge for the Jets is $750,000, which is the veteran salary benefit.

Gore is entering his 16th season in the NFL after coming out of the University of Miami in 2005. He spent 10 seasons in San Francisco with the 49ers before moving onto the Colts in 2015 for three seasons. Gore then went on to have one-year stints with the Dolphins and Bills in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The Jets will be Gore’s third AFC East team.

The future Hall of Famer has rushed for 15,347 yards in his career. He’s third on the all-time rushing list behind Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith.

Now Gore will serve as the No. 2 running back behind Le’Veon Bell. Gore should see his fair share of touches in 2020, given that Adam Gase wants to lessen the load for Bell.

Additionally, Gore can be a mentor for rookie running back La’Mical Perine. So while the Jets may not be paying Gore a ton of money, his value will come in handy as a veteran leader.

Adam Gase expects Le’Veon Bell, Frank Gore to ‘do some damage together’

Adam Gase believes the combo of Le’Veon Bell and Frank Gore can do major damage in 2020.

After signing Frank Gore to a one-year deal, Adam Gase thinks the Jets backfield can be a major threat.

Gore will serve in the backup role to Le’Veon Bell in 2020. The two running backs bring very different skillsets to the table. However, Gase believes that will ultimately be beneficial for the Jets when running the football against opposing defenses.

“He’s a great guy for Le’Veon to be around,” Gase told the team’s website. “Those two guys can really do some damage together. We have two guys that can play all three downs. They both have outstanding skillsets. There’s a little bit of difference in their running style and how they do things, but we know Frank really well and we know how to use them.”

Gase previously said that he wants to lessen the load for Bell next season. Bell had 311 touches in 2019 after a year out of football in 2018. Gore, despite approaching age 37, can come in and handle 150+ touches right away.

As Gase alluded to, he knows how to use Gore. The two spent a season together in Miami in 2018 and first got to know each other in San Francisco. Gore ran for 722 total yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry while with the Dolphins.

It will be on Gase to figure out how share the ball between Gore and Bell. Maybe Gase can line up Bell more as a wide receiver, which happened a few times in 2019, with Gore in the backfield. Gase can also put them together in the shotgun to give the opposing defense a new look. Gase should have fun shifting around both guys within the offense.

At the end of the day, though, it just comes down to production. If Gase can get the most out of Bell and Gore, then the Jets running game will be dangerous in 2020.

Frank Gore’s first game with Jets will make NFL history

Jets running back Frank Gore will make NFL history in his first ever game with New York.

Frank Gore’s Jets debut will make NFL history.

Gore is currently tied with Emmitt Smith for the most regular season games played by a running back at 226. So when Gore plays in his first game for the Jets in 2020, he’ll no longer be tied with the Cowboys legend. Once Gore takes the field for Gang Green, no running back will have ever played in as many games.

Gore will also join running back Marcus Allen in the record books. This year will the 16th season of Gore’s career, making him just the second running back to play 16 NFL seasons along with Allen.

Gore has had a historic NFL career. He’s third on the all-time rushing list with 15,347 yards. He only trails Walter Payton and Smith. Gore is also a five-time Pro Bowler, all with the San Francisco 49ers.

What makes Gore special is his durability and ability to keep playing football at his age. In 15 seasons, Gore has only missed a total of 14 games. For a player of his size and the position he plays, that’s truly remarkable. Running backs typically don’t play far into their 30s, nonetheless late 30s.

Now Gore will continue his NFL journey in New York. He recently said he wanted to play for the Jets because of his close relationship with Adam Gase. Gore played under Gase in Miami in 2018.

With Frank Gore on board, 3 of the top 10 all-time rushing leaders have been Jets

The Jets have employed three top 10 rushing leaders in Frank Gore, Curtis Martin and LaDainian Tomlinson.

The New York Jets have a habit of employing some of the greatest running backs of all-time.

After agreeing to a one-year deal with Frank Gore, the Jets have now had three of the top 10 all-time rushing leaders play for them. In addition to Gore, there was also Curtis Martin and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Gore is third on the all-time rushing list with 15,347 yards. Only Walter Payton (16,726) and Emmitt Smith (18,355) are ahead of him. Martin is sixth on the list with 14,101 yards and Tomlinson is seventh with 13,694 yards.

Adrian Peterson is the only other back in the top 20 that remains active like Gore.

Of the three with Jets ties, Martin spent the most time in New York. He signed with the Jets as a free agent in 1998 and was with the team through 2005. Martin is the Jets’ single-season rushing leader with 1,697 yards in 2004. He totaled 10,302 yards as a Jet and another 3,799 with the Patriots.

As for Tomlinson, he joined the Jets in 2010 after nine seasons with the Chargers. Tomlinson was solid in his first season in green, rushing for 914 yards and six touchdowns. However, he fell off in 2011, only rushing for 280 yards and one touchdown.

Now the 36-year-old Gore has a chance to prove he still has some juice left in his legs in New York. After 10 years with the 49ers, three with the Colts and one with the Dolphins, Gore rushed for 599 yards and two touchdowns with Buffalo last season as the No. 2 running back.

Gore will likely serve as the Jets’ No. 2 running back behind Le’Veon Bell. Adam Gase has already said that he wants to lessen the load for Bell, so Gore, who played for Gase in Miami, should see plenty of touches.

If Gore ends up playing more than one season in New York, he could make history with the Jets, as he’s 1,380 yards away from passing Payton for second place on the all-time rushing list. One of the NFL’s ageless wonders, it wouldn’t be that shocking to see Gore continue his career beyond the 2020 season.

Adam Gase hopes to lessen the load for Le’Veon Bell in 2020

Adam Gase wants to ease the workload of Le’Veon Bell with a running back by committee. He also wants to utilize other options on offense.

Adam Gase wants to change the way the Jets utilize their running game in 2020.

Gase was on ESPN’s Rich Cimini’s “Flight Deck” podcast and explained how he wants to take some of the pressure off Le’Veon Bell’s shoulders. Instead of trying to maximize Bell’s usage, Gase prefers using a committee of running backs to ease the workload of the 28-year-old. It’s all part of Gase’s “less is more” style of running.

“I do think we have some guys that can help maybe lessen the load on [Bell] to where it’s not all on him,” Gase said. “Hopefully, we can get some of the younger backs to where we can make a good one-two punch to where we can really excel instead of feeling like it’s just all on him all the time.”

Despite what many think, Gase used Bell a lot last season. Between rushing attempts and receptions, Bell had 311 touches. It wasn’t nearly the amount he got in Pittsburgh, but keep in mind it was Bell’s first season back after taking a year off in 2018. Gase couldn’t just throw him into the fire and expect 400 touches out of him. The Jets would’ve run him into the ground had they done that.

While Gase says they want to have a committee of running backs, there isn’t much depth after Bell. Fourth-round pick La’Mical Perine figures to be second on the depth chart, but after that, it’s a collection of unproven rushers in Kenneth Dixon, Josh Adams and Trenton Cannon.

What should help Bell next season is an improved offensive line and more playmakers in the offense. The Jets might have five new starters on the offensive line next season. Meanwhile, they added some weapons in Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims. They’ll also get Chris Herndon and Ryan Griffin back.

Those players should help open up the offense more. Last season, Bell was facing a loaded box on 36.3 percent of his runs. It’s hard to have success as a running back when opposing defenses know what’s coming. So Gase thinks Bell should see fewer players in the box because of the other threats the Jets have.

“If you have the vertical threats like I think we’re going to have with the wide receivers now, hey, maybe we’ll start seeing two-high zone instead of them just focusing on one guy in the receiving corps,” Gase said.

WATCH: Highlights of new Jets RB La’Mical Perine

Here are highlights of new Jets running back La’Mical Perine at Florida.

The New York Jets may have found their eventual replacement for Le’Veon Bell by picking Florida RB La’Mical Perine in the fourth round of the 2020 draft.

Perine is a small running back at 5-foot-11 and 216 pounds, but has good burst. His 40-yard dash time was a little slow at 4.62 seconds, so he doesn’t really have that second gear to him where he can break into the open field. Perine’s best season came in 2018 when he rushed for 862 yards and seven touchdowns while also averaging 6.1 yards per rush. Overall at Florida, he rushed for 2,485 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Here are Perine’s career highlights at Florida: