New York Jets: Le’Veon Bell injury provides opportunity for Lamical Perine

The New York Jets placed Le’Veon Bell on Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury which could open the door for rookie Lamical Perine.

Following the first week of the NFL season, the New York Jets placed running back Le’Veon Bell on injured reserve, keeping him out for at least three weeks. One player that could emerge from the masses in Bell’s absence is 2020 NFL Draft fourth round pick Lamical Perine.

The Jets’ offense isn’t the most exciting and the run game is just as abysmal, but that’s why the opportunity for Perine might be so great.

Coming off of an ankle injury, Perine is still working to get back to 100 percent, but if he can before Bell returns, the top running back spot will be up for grabs.

In the first week of the season against Buffalo, the Jets rushed for just 52 yards as a team. Frank Gore was the team’s leading rusher with 24 yards on six carries. Gore was also joined in the backfield by third-year back Josh Adams. Adams rushed for eight yards on two carries and caught two passes for 14 yards. Needless to say, the Jets don’t have much of a backfield without Bell.

This is where Perine can step in. Over four seasons at Florida, Perine proved to be a weapon in both the run and passing games, something that the Jets will need to replace in the absence of Bell who could do both well.

During the 2019 season at Florida, Perine totaled 938 yards from scrimmage. Of those, 676 came on the ground and 262 through the air. Additionally, Perine found the end zone on 11 occasions.

The 2018 season was something similar for him as well, totaling 996 yards from scrimmage. The split leaned to the run a bit more that season with 826 rushing yards and 170 receiving yards. He also added eight touchdowns that year.

If given the opportunity to show what he can do, Perine has the ability to fill the role that was meant for Bell when he signed with the New York Jets. He can be productive on the ground and through the air, which provides the perfect checkdown for Sam Darnold in an offense that doesn’t have many weapons.

Let’s take a look at what Bell did in the past since that’s the role that Perine would be filling. Last year, which was Bell’s only season with the New York Jets, was a bit rocky for the former three-time Pro Bowler.

On 245 carries, Bell totaled 789 rushing yards, averaging 3.2 yards per carry and tallied just three touchdowns. But, Bell is a threat in the passing game, so those stats were better, right? Well, not exactly. Bell was targeted 78 times and caught 66 of those passes going for 461 yards and just one more score.

The year was a bit of an anomaly from what we’ve come to know from Bell, but that also might be the system he was in. Regardless, Perine has the opportunity to not only fill in for Bell, but maybe even take the starting job away from him if he plays well enough.

Going back to Perine’s time at Florida in 2019, he was given the ball on 132 carries when he totaled 676 yards on the ground, which ended up with an average of 5.1 yards per carry and six touchdowns. Through the air he was able to haul in 40 passes for 262 yards for five touchdowns.

Now, I’m not saying that Lamical Perine is necessarily better than Le’Veon Bell. Bell has had an established and impressive career thus far. However, it might be Perine that fits better into the current New York Jets system. With a big opportunity looming in front of Perine, he needs to get healthy and show what he can do.

The Jets obviously believe in what Perine can do, taking him in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Now, he can prove to everyone why they took him when they did.

The New York Jets will face the San Francisco 49ers in the second week of the season on Sunday. Surprisingly, the 49ers allowed the second-most rushing yards in week one, giving up 180 to the Arizona Cardinals. If Perine is healthy, he should be a name to watch in that game for a potential breakout performance.