Le'Veon Bell could have lessened load in Jets' backfield

New York Jets head coach Adam Gase indicated running back Le'Veon Bell could see a reduced workload next season.

What It Means:

"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." Bell had the eighth-most touches (311) in the league in his inaugural season with the Jets, but his career-low 4.0 yards per touch was worst among all players with at least 270 touches. He also averaged a career-low 3.2 yards on 16.3 carries a game, which wasn't helped by an offensive line that only allowed for 1.4 yards before contact per rush, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for worst in the league. Perhaps even more than spreading the volume around, the Jets having as many as four new starters on the line next season should help improve Bell's efficiency. Bilal Powell was last year's number-two back, but he's unemployed. The other options currently on the roster are Kenneth Dixon, Josh Adams, Trenton Cannon, and fourth-round pick La’Mical Perine. Bell turned 28 in February.

Bell averaged 12.1 FanDuel points (RB21) and 83.3 yards per game with 4 touchdowns last season. He saw more defenders than blockers on 36.3 percent of his runs, the seventh-highest percentage among 29 ball carriers with at least 150 attempts, per NFL Next Gen Stats. The Jets' offensive line was 28th in Pro Football Focus' final 2019 rankings and 31st in Football Outsiders' adjusted line yards.