JetNation Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 By Glenn Naughton It’s been a long time coming for Bilal Powell, the very talented and almost always underutilized running back who has spent far too much time on the bench during his NFL career, appears to finally have the attention of his coaches after being forced in to action last season when Matt Forte was injured late in the year. Bilal Powell shouldn’t be an afterthought on offense in 2017. The use of Powell throughout the course of the season was a mystery to those who could see very early on that he was the best running back on the roster. No disrespect to Matt Forte, a great player in his own right, but the younger Powell, who has far fewer miles on his legs than Forte, should have been splitting carries 50/50 with Forte at the very worst. A split somewhere along those lines is what many fans expected prior to the start of the season, but the Jets’ coaching staff limited Powell to just 49 carries over the season’s first 12 weeks, never seeing more than 8 carries in a single game. When Forte went down for the season and Powell took over as the featured back, all he did was carry the ball 82 times for 411 yards (5.1 YPC) and a pair of touchdowns. As a receiver out of the backfield, Powell hauled in 21 passes for 141 yards and another score. The Jets parted ways with their 2016 running backs coach Marcel Shipp, and his replacement, Stump Mitchell, offered high praise of Powell according to Rich Cimini of ESPN New York. When asked about Powell, Mitchell replied, “Bilal is a Pro Bowl back if he was playing by himself, make no doubt about that”. As Cimini notes, Powell won’t be playing alone as Forte will still be part of the equation. Even still, those words must carry a lot of weight with Powell, who, despite fast approaching senior citizen status where running backs are concerned at 28 years old, his best days may still be ahead of him. The failure of previous coaches to maximize Powell’s talents may end up paying dividends for him in the long run as his total number of carries has been extremely low in both College and the NFL. His low mileage count could add some quality seasons to Powell’s career. During his time at Louisville, Powell totalled just 436 attempts in four seasons, hardly workhorse numbers. As a pro, Powell has been called upon just 533 times in six seasons. In all, that’s 969 carries in ten seasons of big time football. In a league where some featured backs surpass that total in two or three years, Powell is about as fresh as any six-year veteran can be. Prior to last season, Powell had exceeded 100 carries only two other times in his career, and carried the ball just over 100 times in the previous two seasons combined. Now getting ready to play for a coaching staff that’s saying all the right things about Powell’s ability early on, the back is undoubtedly hoping that his days of 15+ carries per game become more of a regular thing than the anomaly it’s been up to this point. Click here to read the full story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinstar Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Bilal Powell's career reminds me of the career of Adrian Murrell . Just when he showed something, it might all be over because he's in the last year of a 2 year contract . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 22 minutes ago, Tinstar said: Bilal Powell's career reminds me of the career of Adrian Murrell . Just when he showed something, it might all be over because he's in the last year of a 2 year contract . I actually remember liking Murrell quite a bit early on. Probably stays a Jet if Jets don't steal C-Mart from the Pats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBeardedSavage Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Quote When asked about Powell, Mitchell replied, “Bilal is a Pro Bowl back if he was playing by himself, make no doubt about that” Bilal is a jack-of-all-trades, high-effort running back. I like having Bilal on the team. There are times when I think; we should use Bilal more. But pro bowl? Come on, bro. Maybe if we had that Dallas o-line. And a quarterback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Forte looked done last year, so I expect Powell, and the draft pick will get a lot of reps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 54 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said: Bilal is a jack-of-all-trades, high-effort running back. I like having Bilal on the team. There are times when I think; we should use Bilal more. But pro bowl? Come on, bro. Maybe if we had that Dallas o-line. And a quarterback. Agreed. Not pro bowl...but definitely upper echelon. There's nothing he can't do at a high level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbatesman Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 3 hours ago, JetNation said: When asked about Powell, Mitchell replied, “Bilal is a Pro Bowl back if he was playing by himself, make no doubt about that” Then why is Forte still on the roster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnleyJet Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#27TheDominator Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 1 hour ago, AFJF said: I actually remember liking Murrell quite a bit early on. Probably stays a Jet if Jets don't steal C-Mart from the Pats. Steal? They gave up a first and a third for the privilege of giving Martin a gigantic contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Just now, #27TheDominator said: Steal? They gave up a first and a third for the privilege of giving Martin a gigantic contract. Sorry...should've said "took" or "got". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony MaC Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 2 hours ago, Tinstar said: Bilal Powell's career reminds me of the career of Adrian Murrell . Just when he showed something, it might all be over because he's in the last year of a 2 year contract . Its actually a three year, so if he impresses he'll be back next year. He's been pretty fortunate to have stuck with the team thus far, being a 4th rd RB and all. The one thing I can say about Powell is he's always made the most of his opportunities- and he's damn lucky to have had them in such sporadic spurts. Its like he's shown just enough to keep around, but has had the benefit of not being a workhorse so he's had a longer career. Also, he and Wilk are the longest tenured players on the team besides Tanner Purdum. How crazy is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 1 hour ago, BurnleyJet said: Try again. Walmart selling generic Jets gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#27TheDominator Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 6 minutes ago, AFJF said: Sorry...should've said "took" or "got". You can stuff your sorry in a sack mister! I was a big Adrian Murrell fan. I was psyched when they drafted him and Richie Anderson. I liked Richie Anderson better coming out than Blair Thomas and I loved that draft because it meant that stiff was gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFJF Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 2 hours ago, flgreen said: Forte looked done last year, so I expect Powell, and the draft pick will get a lot of reps To each his own, but I wouldn't say Forte is "done". He's not a feature back, but he and Bilal could be effective if used correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepPep Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 2 hours ago, RedBeardedSavage said: Bilal is a jack-of-all-trades, high-effort running back. I like having Bilal on the team. There are times when I think; we should use Bilal more. But pro bowl? Come on, bro. Maybe if we had that Dallas o-line. And a quarterback. Pro Bowl is all about the stats. So are you saying he would not hold up to the punishment and/or get hurt? B/C other than that, if he was fed the ball consistently, I think he could be a Pro Bowler. Having said that, let's keep in mind this is coming from the RBs coach. Of course he's going to exaggerate about the potential of his players!!! What kind of coach would he be if he didn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, PepPep said: Pro Bowl is all about the stats. So are you saying he would not hold up to the punishment and/or get hurt? B/C other than that, if he was fed the ball consistently, I think he could be a Pro Bowler. Having said that, let's keep in mind this is coming from the RBs coach. Of course he's going to exaggerate about the potential of his players!!! What kind of coach would he be if he didn't? Parcells He had a saying he used to use that I loved. "I've got a bus ticket in my desk with his name on it" when asked about young players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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