I really admire the effort and public stance that Bell has maintained all year long. His running style is in no way a fit for the Gase system and the Jets offensive line is not good enough to make it work anyway. When he was good with the Steelers Bell spent more time behind the line of scrimmage waiting for a hole to open up than any of his peers in the NFL. That worked well because the Steeler's line was hard to match up against and maintain the lanes consistently. With the Jets there is almost never a hole open on anything but a quick hitter or a Jet sweep/reverse. Bell's ability to pick the right hole and patience in waiting for it to open up is completely wasted due to the lack of holes available. Unless the Jets have a plan to dramatically improve the OL in the off-season, and by improve I mean actual improvements not marketing pipedreams, they should figure out a way to get something for Bell and move on. Even then it will take Bell time to get accustomed to the new OL and he is unlikely to provide dramatic returns early next season. If the Jets cannot move Bell then they need to consider moving him to WR. At least he would be functional in that role and fill a hole, that of overpaid but productive #2 WR.
Gase never even tried to use this guy as a pass catcher. Get rid of Gase and watch Bell's productivity increase two fold. Same goes for Montgomery.
He's done. Stick a fork in him. He has no second gear. He's slow asf. He'll be miscast in any system.
Gase used Bell as Darnold's security blanket. He caught 61 passes, mostly in the flats, often with Darnold under severe pressure - as in the 3rd and long catch and run that clinched the game for the Jets today. The way Bell was used this year was very similar to the way Gase used the RB's in the Fins offense from 2016-2018. The difference is that the main RB was not the leading receiver among backs in Gase's system. He much prefers a more traditional 3rd down back and change-of-pace system. Given all the injuries the Jets had on offense this year with a makeshift OL virtually every game that Darnold played and the TE injury situation I think the Jets probably got about as much as they could have out of their personnel. You don't really believe that Bell suddenly becomes a productive workhorse back with another coaching staff and the same personnel on the field, do you? Same coaching staff and better personnel? Different coaching staff and better personnel? Those both have one factor in common that the Jets did not have available to any coaching staff this year.
His second gear is all past the line of scrimmage and *always* has been. That flipping through the options behind the LOS thing worked just fine with a great OL. It isn't going to work well in most other situations.
Given Douglas' statements about how important the trenches are are, I believe he will do everything he can to improve the OL. It might be a 2 year project given that the OL has needs at least 4 new starters and there are other big holes to fill.
I honestly would not care if JD came out and said we are using all draft picks and cap space to acquire the best o line we possibly can and all other holes will be filled with udfas .
I saw enough of him when he was in Pittsburgh he reminded me of Marshall Faulk. You're looking at other factors to explain why he looks this way here I'm looking at the player. His speed is gone, he has no second gear anymore no explosiveness no elusiveness once he breaks into (rare times it's happened here) the second level of the defense. O-line is a easy scapegoat. In today's game he got some big holes early on he got nine, ten yard gains a back with some speed, explosivessness turns those into 15-20 yards gains possibly more much more. He's 27 looks like a washed up back in his mid 30s. Something happened to him during that year off he lost it.
2 years is the likely timeframe unless the Jets get lucky and have a real shot at two blue-chip OL prospects in the draft. If they somehow managed to pull a left tackle and a guard or center out of the 2020 draft they might be able to cobble together a decent line by signing one free agent and finding the best two of the returnees to complete the starting five. Say maybe one of Beacham and Winters can play LG or RG or Edoga makes a leap at RT and they sign the free agent to fill the remaining hole. Also the Jets depth next year would be much better than it was this year with more people fighting for a job and quality depth available for the roster as a result.
