Fantasy Football Bust? New York Jets Running Back Le'Veon Bell Considered a Risky Pick
This past week, Le’Veon Bell answered an offbeat and intended to be funny question, saying that he isn’t concerned about fantasy football points and just wants to win games with the New York Jets. It was certainly the right answer, but it doesn’t mean that fantasy football owners aren’t equally intrigued and skeptical about Bell.
Last season was the worst of Bell’s career, the former two-time All-Pro posting a career low in yards per carry (3.2) and yards per reception (7.7).
“Last year you’d consider him a disappointment, he was the RB16. He had a 3.2 yards per carry average, that was a career-worst. He had only 245 carries, that’s the fewest for a full season since 2013 when he was a rookie,” said Michael Fabiano, senior fantast analyst at Sports Illustrated.
“He also had only 78 targets. Let’s also keep in mind that Adam Gase did not use Bell properly last year. The Jets ran out of the shotgun 45 percent of the time. When he Bell was in Pittsburgh, his final season there, they ran him 27 percent of the time out of the shot gun. Bell is playing behind yet another offensive line so you have to learn their tendencies.”
Fabiano noted that the Jets rebuilt the offensive line this offseason with four projected new starters including first round pick Mekhi Becton, taken No. 11 overall out of Louisville. The line should be vastly improved over last year’s unit which was among the worst in football.
But the question really is about fit. The Jets this offseason signed Frank Gore, one of the best running backs in the history of the NFL. They also drafted La’Mical Perine in the fourth round, giving them good depth at the position. Bell’s touches might be limited by scheme, as Fabiano notes, and also by the need to share carries.
“Adam Gase has wrecked the fantasy value of plenty of guys in the past and I think he’s doing it again to Le’Veon Bell,” Fabiano said.
Fabiano said that Bell’s projections for 2020 show some slight improvement over last year: 863 rush yards, five rushing touchdowns; 57 catches, 409 yards, two receiving touchdowns.
