is bell okay or not

[rangerous]

a lot of people are being apologists for bell without knowing the whole story.  maybe he'll come on the way we all hope but there's also every reason to think that gase is right about whatever misgivings he has about bell beyond the high price tag.  the recent signing of a running back speaks to this.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/28/inside-leveon-bells-ugly-jets-training-camp/

Le’Veon Bell’s ugly training camp has Adam Gase headed right for disaster

By Brian Costello

August 28, 2020 | 4:35pm

 

Adam Gase has a Le’Veon Bell problem and it has nothing to do with whether the running back’s hamstrings are tight or not.

Bell has not had a Bell has not had an impressive training camp. Anyone who has watched practice over the past two weeks would have Bell ranked third among the running backs with Frank Gore and rookie La’Mical Perine ahead of him if they were being honest.

The happy August talk was about how Bell reported to training camp in great shape. He said he is between 210-215 pounds. Bell has talked about having the best year of his career.

“I’m ready to show this is the best Le’Veon Bell that’s ever played in the NFL,” Bell said a few weeks ago.

All of that has looked like talk as Bell has lacked explosiveness in practice, looks slow to hit holes and seems to now lack the vision that once made him arguably the best running back in football. This information is not being gathered from anonymous sources, but two sources I trust implicitly – my left and right eyes.

This all sets up as a disaster for Gase, who will be under pressure from fans, media and probably Bell himself to give him the ball. Anyone pushing for Bell to be the centerpiece of the Jets offense has not watched a snap of practice.

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Evaluating the running game in training camp can be tricky. There is no live tackling and the blocking is not quite the same as a live game. I have been hesitant to draw conclusions on Bell but Gore and Perine simply look like they are operating at a different speed. Bell could come out and rush for 120 yards in Week 1 against the Bills, but that seems unlikely.

Bell’s history and his $13 million salary give him a status that makes everyone believe the Jets should just feed him the ball, results be damned. To some degree, Gase did that last year. When he didn’t, people howled despite Bell’s paltry 3.2 yards per carry. The blame was placed on the offensive line and Gase’s play-calling, and those were justified, but very little blame went to Bell himself. But Bell recently admitted that he was at fault for last year’s poor results.

“You hear people talk like maybe it’s the O-line or it’s the coach not getting you the ball, but it’s like, no, there were holes there,” Bell said. “Coach Gase gave me the ball enough. There were times when I could have done more with it. I just don’t want that to be a question no more.”

The 28-year-old Bell may just not have any tread left on the tire. The Steelers rode him for several years and those touches may be catching up to him. Since he entered the league in 2013, his 1,852 touches are second in the NFL to LeSean McCoy’s 1,895. In his last two years in Pittsburgh, his 742 touches were the most in the NFL. The overuse in Pittsburgh followed by his year off in 2018 when he was unhappy with his contract may have had a deleterious effect. The most troubling stat from last season was his longest carry was just 19 yards, a sign that his explosiveness is gone.

Maybe Bell can prove me wrong and have a big season. He is a proud competitor who should not be counted out even though I have my doubts.

What I have no doubt about is this is going to be a very tricky situation for Gase to navigate. Bell and Gore have been playing at about a 60-40 split in reps during training camp. Bell is a guy who never wants to leave the field, as evidenced by his social media tantrum this week. Gase is going to want to work in Gore and Perine and maybe even Kalen Ballage, who the Jets traded for Thursday.

 

This is all a bad recipe for an unpopular coach who will get pounded the first time Gore has more carries than Bell and the Jets lose.

n impressive training camp. Anyone who has watched practice over the past two weeks would have Bell ranked third among the running backs with Frank Gore and rookie La’Mical Perine ahead of him if they were being

[Greenbloodblitz]

I say trade Bell for anybody's 3rd WR and a fifth round pick

[MindOverMatter]

This was pretty clear to me last year when Bilal Powell stepped in as a 30yr old coming off of an injury plagued season and had more burst and explosiveness than Bell.

He was a great player in Pittsburgh but i never understood when people talked about his "patient running style". That's not a running style FFS, that's a luxury. The only thing unique about that situation was having a HoF QB, HoF WR, and Top 5 OLine to support Bell. We all see how that patient running style translates when he has defenders in the backfield on almost every play.

[SAR I]

Bell is shot.  He played the Steelers, they didn’t bite, we did. He took a year off, came back, wasn’t the same.  He’s old now.  If he didn’t sweet talk the media and play nice with the fans he’d have been cut by now.

Costello is reputable. Can’t really argue his impressions. 

SAR I

[TuscanyTile2]

18 hours ago, SAR I said:

Bell is shot.  He played the Steelers, they didn’t bite, we did. He took a year off, came back, wasn’t the same.  He’s old now.  If he didn’t sweet talk the media and play nice with the fans he’d have been cut by now.

Costello is reputable. Can’t really argue his impressions. 

SAR I

Another strike against Gase

EDIT: just so people understand, this is related to SAR I last year saying that Gase/CJ were making the decisions and Macc was their puppet.

[Patriot Killa]

1 hour ago, rangerous said:

Bell has not had a Bell has not had an impressive training camp.

not to be a grammar nazi but...

Brian, how do you mess up the opening line of your article & not notice it.

Sincerely , 

who the actual f*ck hires these people?

[SOJ]

52 minutes ago, MindOverMatter said:

This was pretty clear to me last year when Bilal Powell stepped in as a 30yr old coming off of an injury plagued season and had more burst and explosiveness than Bell.

He was a great player in Pittsburgh but i never understood when people talked about his "patient running style". That's not a running style FFS, that's a luxury. The only thing unique about that situation was having a HoF QB, HoF WR, and Top 5 OLine to support Bell. We all see how that patient running style translates when he has defenders in the backfield on almost every play.

Couldn't agree more...the guy had no burst at all...nothing.   TAs the other poster stated Trade his ass for a wr

[Losmeister]

I've been banging the drum for 2 years

[varjet]

2 minutes ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

Another strike against Gase

In all fairness, I don't think Gase was for Bell.  That was a Mac thing, likely pushed by the Johnsons to make a splash.

I think JD and Chris now know that the damage done by Mac will take years to fix, which is why he traded Adams for two first round picks.

But I believe Gase was very much for Mosley, who ain't looking like a great move either.

Chris is doing what I would do if I owned a football team-get lots of draft picks, and sign players to short term prove it contracts.  Only special players with top character get longer, expensive contracts.  

[section314]

20 minutes ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

Another strike against Gase

Are you kidding? The moment he signed, Gase was furious. Let’s be fair.

[UntouchableCrew]

Quote

Frank Gore is the most productive back at Jets training camp. Yes, you read that right. I know Le’Veon Bell is the all-pro, highest-paid, big-play guy with the all-world reputation, but the Jets are getting far more production out of Gore. There’s no B.S. with the 37-year-old. He receives the handoff, finds the hole, then gets through. He’s not breaking off 20- and 30-yard runs, but he is gaining three, four, five and six yards every time he touches it.

That’s not the case with Bell. The minute he gets the handoff, he starts dancing. It’s like he’s waiting for the perfect hole to hit a home run every time he touches it. That might have worked in Pittsburgh. It’s not going to with the Jets. Not only did the Steelers have a far superior offensive line, but they had Ben Roethlisberger under center and Antonio Brown split wide. Teams couldn’t pack the box because they knew those two would hook up deep.

The moment Bell starts hesitating, the defense closes around him. His vision is also a little questionable. Bell missed a wide-open running lane outside in the Wednesday scrimmage. Instead, he shuffled between the guards and went down for a two-yard loss.

Bell is a better player than Gore. But Gore looks like a better player for the Jets right now.

 

Connor Hughes pretty much said the same thing.

[TuscanyTile2]

19 minutes ago, varjet said:

In all fairness, I don't think Gase was for Bell.  That was a Mac thing, likely pushed by the Johnsons to make a splash.

I think JD and Chris now know that the damage done by Mac will take years to fix, which is why he traded Adams for two first round picks.

But I believe Gase was very much for Mosley, who ain't looking like a great move either.

Chris is doing what I would do if I owned a football team-get lots of draft picks, and sign players to short term prove it contracts.  Only special players with top character get longer, expensive contracts.  

I'm just busting SAR's chops. And, tbh, I loved the Mosley signing.

[TuscanyTile2]

5 minutes ago, section314 said:

Are you kidding? The moment he signed, Gase was furious. Let’s be fair.

Yes I am kidding, actually.

When I criticized CJ last year for letting Macc run the draft and FA, SAR I defended it by pushing the narrative that it was really Gase/CJ who were pulling the strings for all those moves.  My comment was directed at SAR I's narrative rather than what I actually think went down.

[UntouchableCrew]

It's going to be a concern either way because Bell is going to want those touches. He's auditioning for his next deal.

[Losmeister]

looked liked the slowest RB in the NFL last year...

"utilize him properly"?

 

[slats]

Bell was a horrible signing. I’d love for him to prove me wrong, but I definitely don’t expect it. 

[T0mShane]

54 minutes ago, SAR I said:

Bell is shot.  He played the Steelers, they didn’t bite, we did. He took a year off, came back, wasn’t the same.  He’s old now.  If he didn’t sweet talk the media and play nice with the fans he’d have been cut by now.

Costello is reputable. Can’t really argue his impressions. 

SAR I

Averaged 4.0 behind three Pro Bowl linemen in 2017.

[Irish Jet]

Investing anything significant in running backs is just an absolute disaster waiting to happen.

Damn near worthless position, especially when you have severe OL issues.

[TuscanyTile2]

1 hour ago, Patriot Killa said:

not to be a grammar nazi but...

Brian, how do you mess up the opening line of your article & not notice it.

Sincerely , 

who the actual f*ck hires these people?

Brian has not had a Brian has not had an impressive training camp

[UntouchableCrew]

19 minutes ago, Irish Jet said:

Investing anything significant in running backs is just an absolute disaster waiting to happen.

Damn near worthless position, especially when you have severe OL issues.

Pretty much every RB contract giving out in recent years has been a disaster. Bell, Gurley, David Johnson, etc. It's just not a position that you should ever pay.

[addage]

Bell’s legs are fine. His head not so much. 

[JoJoTownsell1]

Negative training camp articles are like heroin to this forum. 

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

Bell is fine. He’s just washed up. He looks slow at practice. Somehow 50 yr old frank gore looks faster. Perrine is better. 
 

Time to move on. Use him as a 3rd down back. 

[addage]

Look. Bell was a poor signing—one of many by the old regime.

But he’s ours now.  I hope he has a great season. If he does, the O will have a good year too. One flows from the other. 
And he can still be cut at seasons end because he costs too much.  The money can go elsewhere. 

[Matt39]

Who could have predicted a slow player with a sour attitude getting a big contract would suck 

[NamathToCaster]

Jamal Adams  ran  his mouth to bring Bell here.  Wonder if Jamal did not  recruit him, would Bell be somewhere else?

[xboxjets]

5 minutes ago, NamathToCaster said:

Jamal Adams  ran  his mouth to bring Bell here.  Wonder if Jamal did not  recruit him, would Bell be somewhere else?

Jamal Adams might of been 5% reason Bell came here. I would say 90% of it had to do with Jets offering the most money and no one else coming close.

[joewilly12]

Le'Veon Bell has accomplished more in the NFL than Adam Gase has, just saying. 

[jetstream23]

I'm a data-driven guy.  The data tells me that Bell is past his prime (age, # carries) but his history and accomplishments leave hope that he can produce if he has the right team around him and a scheme that's conducive to what he does best.  The probability is decreasing with each passing year but it still exists for another one or two seasons IMO.

Similarly for Gase, I'm still waiting for the data to tell me he'll be good on any team and with any offense without Peyton Manning.  This isn't subjective, it's objective.  As seasons continue to pile up and bad offensive seasons accumulate along with excuses/reasons for failure I'm looking for hope. Please...convince me.

[GreekJet]

Brian,

Can you give the guy a game before writing this article? It’s almost impossible to evaluate RBs in practice. 

[BurnleyJet]

I’d line Bell up as a receiver, he seems very good at catching passes.

[BurnleyJet]

8 hours ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

I'm just busting SAR's chops. And, tbh, I loved the Mosley signing.

 

 

[Ben Had]

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2020/08/afc-east-rumors-patriots-williams-jets-bell-moncrief-mims-dolphins-igbinoghene-ol

[Jet Nut]

15 hours ago, rangerous said:

Since he entered the league in 2013, his 1,852 touches are second in the NFL to LeSean McCoy’s 1,895

And thats with Bell sitting out 2018 ?

[Dcat]

14 hours ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

Another strike against Gase

You mean Mac.  Gase didn't want to waste money on Bell