As we near the start of the 2020 NFL season, no positional group for the New York Jets has made more noise than the running backs. While we’ve had ideas of what to expect throughout the off-season, recent camp reports and team moves have muddied that image. As such, expectations for the 2020 New York Jets backfield need to adjust as the season looms.
What To Expect From the New York Jets Backfield in 2020
Personnel
Even the most basic aspect of the New York Jets backfield, the personnel, has seen some major shifts since mid summer. Speedster Trenton Cannon was released and the team recently made a move to acquire Kalen Ballage from the Miami Dolphins. Ballage has struggled in Miami, but he does provide special teams versatility and a familiarity with Adam Gase. Le’Veon Bell, Frank Gore, and La’Mical Perine are seemingly locks to make the final roster. Depending on how much general manager Joe Douglas values the conditional seventh round pick given to Miami for Ballage, he too could make the active roster. This is a substantially different group compared to last year, and thus, fans should expect the split to be different than what we saw in 2019.
Split
Le’Veon Bell had a down year by his standards in 2019. That may be an understatement as he had previously been one of the most efficient players in league history in regards to scrimmage yards per game. Bell finished 19th in 2019 which is well below his standard. Some of this had to do with his usage being somewhat minimized in 2019. Bell only played 77.1% of the Jets offensive snaps which is below what a player of his caliber normally plays. Expect that number to rise in 2020.
Bell will no longer be losing touches to Ty Montgomery and Bilal Powell, rather it will be Frank Gore and La’Mical Perine. Gore, the ageless wonder, seems to have a good relationship with Gase. This could cause Bell to lose some touches in favor of Gore, but Gore’s limitations as a receiver should keep Bell on the field for the majority of touches. Expect a floor of 80% of snaps to include Bell, while Gore and Perine eat the majority of the remaining 20%. If Ballage was to make the roster, expect most of his work to come on special teams.
Drama
This split prediction comes on the heel of some drama. On Friday, August 28th, Bell seemingly tweaked his hamstring during practice. This catalyzed a drama filled day surrounding the Jets backfield. Two main pieces of drama came from this. The first was the comments made by Bell, seemingly in response to his playing time during team drills. These grievances have seemingly been discussed with Gase, and hopefully resolved.
The other, and slightly more concerning bit of drama came from Connor Hughes. Hughes tweeted about Gore being the best back in camp thus far. This is a provocative statement, and undoubtedly ruffled some feathers. Still, it does not seem like something that is inherently worrisome. The lack of preseason games and game-like scenarios this off-season can be a major culprit for this. Gore may be better in practice, but it remains to be seen if that will translate to games. I do not expect this to impact playing time and snap splits early in the season. That could change if Gore truthfully outperforms Bell during the season.
Expectations
So what does all this turnover and turmoil mean for the group in 2020. In short, I do not expect it to matter much. The main issue in 2019 that prevented the group from getting going was the offensive line. That unit is greatly improved in 2020. Even though there are five new starters, it will be nearly impossible for the unit to regress. Rookie Mekhi Becton will be a major factor in how successful the run game is. His enormous frame and immense power should be enough to provide a spark in the run game early even if he is not a finished product. Despite the rumors and concern heading into the season, there is no reason to panic. Expect a 1000 yard season from Bell, and positive contributions from depth players.
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