The league doesn’t take too kind to older RB’s. Gore and a Peterson are the exception and their reason why they have work is mostly Because of the back of their football cards. They are proven. Powell isn’t a proven reliable RB. He’s a part time RB...for him, he just needs to stay healthy because maybe if injuries hit a particular team, he can fill a role for a few games if he knows that teams offense. I think that’s why Gore was signed. He likely has a good idea of Gase’s offense and with this pandemic going on, you need people who have ties who can be plug in play just in case training camps don’t start in time. Rookies will be behind the 8 ball.
The thing with Bilal is why have they so underused him as a pass-catching back? Bar two seasons 15/16 were he was targeted profusely and then it has just been a huge drop-off and under Gase he was pretty non-existent. It is a strange career when looked at in depth, he could have been so much more but not quite really going through with the promise he always has had.
Powell was a mid round draft pick, so nobody had a really vested interest in getting him on the field early on. He's had a few injuries that took chances away from him. The Jets have changed offensive coordinators every 2 years like clockwork, so nobody has ever had him long enough to really appreciate him. Stardom in the NFL is attached to high draft status and/or a tremendous amount of luck, with the occasional appreciation bond between a player and coach (Curtis Martin and Bill Parcells) turning into a Hall of fame career.
I expect to see a vastly improved - and vastly more utilized - rushing attack this season. Last year's use was negligent.
This signing makes little sense to me. I'm obviously bias as I'm probably the biggest Bell fan there is, but I'm trying my best not to let that get in the way too much when evaluating this move. I get the fact he's a mentor and great locker room guy. Fine, but I wouldn't count on him physically helping you on the field. I watched almost all of the Bills games last year. Gore looked absolutely done. He had every chance to win the short yardage role on that team, and he couldn't do it even while Singletary was hurt and missed games. He looked DREADFUL whenever he was on the field, and it was night and day when Singletary was out there compared to him. There were multiple times I remember the coaches forcing Gore in there to punch it into the endzone, and he couldn't do it. Singletary was forced back out there to finish the drive. He's just not the same dude anymore. Time has finally caught up to him, and it caught up to him last year. With that said...if I ever see this man on the field in a critical situation over Le'Veon, I might need to be restrained. That would be absolutely ridiculous. Unless Bell is hurt or badly needs a breather, it is unacceptable to ever have him on the field over Bell.
He has always produced at a pretty high level when given an opportunity by the Jets, yet the Jets don't seem to respect him and give him more opportunities. IMO he has earned them, but hasn't gotten them.
I think you're looking too much into this. One of our biggest problems last year was depth. It was apparent that we had severe holes on our roster and we had little help coming off the bench. Douglas has made it clear in a few interviews after the draft, that he values depth and after last year, he has made it a priority this offseason. I think Douglas signed Gore for multiple reasons: 1. He provides solid depth at a crucial position. It is clear that Bell is our #1 back. But Gore can be used very effectively in the short yardage game and as a substitute back when Bell needs rest. 2. He provides a veteran voice in the locker room and is a great mentor for a young guy like Perrine. Perrine learning behind Bell and Gore is a running backs dream. 3. What's better than a guy who has literally played on the Dolphins and the Bills in the last 2 years. He may prove to be useful having been in those systems and knowing the players on the rosters. Obviously Miami has been gutted, but it could still prove to be valuable at times. I like the signing for the all the reasons above. He's a good guy to have around this young roster
I completely agree that they signed him for those reasons. However, my point is the guy is cooked. If we get the 2019 version of Gore I saw play for the Bills, he will be unable to help us at all in actually running the ball effectively when he is on the field. He was abysmal last year, and I highly caution anyone who thinks he'll be a good short yardage back. He showed serious decline last year. I don't mind bringing him in as a mentor or to pick his brain on the Bills, but if that's the case, you may hire him as a coach or advisor. If he's the guy I saw in Buffalo, I don't need to see him take away any carries from other guys on this roster.
I didn't watch a lot of Buffalo games last year, but he did average 3.6 yards per carry which is a decent average. It was better than Devonta Freeman and Leveon Bell lol And only .2 behind guys like Gurley and Melvin Gordon
I'm not a fan of the YPC stat because I believe - like many others - that it is flawed when evaluating RB play. But with that said, the guys you mentioned - by all accounts - were pretty bad overall last year. But, I don't want to dwell on that because again...I'm not a big believer in judging RB performance by YPC. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I saw all of the Bills games last year. Reason being, I'm a crazy football junkie, and I also drafted Singletary and John Brown in fantasy before the season. So, I obviously kept a close eye on the RB situation there. For the first 3-4 games, Gore looked like his usual solid self. Nothing spectacular. But then, he just faded. He was terrible the rest of the way to the point where the Bills were forced to use Singletary even more in situations that used to be a layup for Gore. Keep in mind, the kid was fresh off missing games from a hamstring injury. IMO, Gore's complete ineffectiveness was father time catching up to him. It was tough to watch - not so much for my fantasy team though. I hope he proves me wrong, and a few months from now, you could remind me how crazy I was to worry about Gore. But, the likelihood he turns it back around at his age is so slim. We will see. I just don't like the idea of him wasting a roster spot, since I don't believe he can't help us on the actual field anymore.
Even if he only makes it through TC or the first part of the season, if he can teach Perine a lot, then it will be worth it imo. I think he probably will be a respected voice and leader in the locker room, and can help instill the culture that Douglas wants here.
Gore was fine early in the year but tailed off later in the year. But that’s fine because he was groomed to help the young RB’s like Singletary along, and Devin took control there. Again I think it’s just an offensive familiarity thing, if the virus continues to hinder team activities, at least there’s a backup who knows what Gase likes as a backup while Perine gets caught up to speed.
A decent RB should average 4.0 YPA. Anything less than that, and you've had a bad year. 3.6 YPA will put you near the bottom of the league every year. Of course there could be reasons for that, like a bad line, injuries or a ton of short yardage carries ... but when you do it at 36, the overwhelming probability is old age. This signing makes no sense to me whatsoever. When was the last time a 37 year old RB had a productive season in the NFL? I'm pretty sure the answer is never. While the Dolphins bring in Breida, and the Bills also transition to youth and speed, we bring in a guy who's ready for his AARP card. This is simply incredible to me. You never get better in the NFL by getting older, and our RB cops will be among the oldest in the league. We're putting too much money and age into a position that should be young and cheap. I didn't like the Bell signing, and I hate this one even more.
Wouldn't be NY sports if old, once great players didn't come here to finish off their career with a sub-par season or two.
Yeah, he was brought in more for the locker room. BUT, it is also another message Douglas/Gase are sending to Bell and other high paid MacCagnan contracts--no guarantee of anything. After 2019, Trumaine Johnson gone. After 2020, Bell will be gone. After 2021 C.J Mosley could be cap casualty. It is refreshing to see Douglas sign so many to one-year contracts and make them earn it. MacCagnan signed so many to GUARANTEED multi-million dollar contracts and guys like Revis, Trumaine, Wilkerson, etc. just mailed it in, knowing they were guaranteed millions regardless of effort. I was watching some jets highlights yesterday of Bell, and I did not see much explosiveness or elusiveness. Hope Bell offers a little more this year--At least he will have a better OL in front of him.
That isn't on Mac though, is it? Other players around the league get paid big guaranteed dollars and don't mail it in, this is a player being a cunt issue. Wilkerson was particularly painful as he had played well until his payday came, I'm not sure if his late to meetings started before the big contract but if they were an issue then Mac had a little warning there. Revis wasn't on Mac either that is all on the Elder powder puff brother, he wanted him signed. Trumaine was another lazy twat who bagged the cash, not sure how you are meant to predict which guy is going to just mail it in. I guess this is why sportsmen and fans are getting further and further apart, the more they earn and become like they have become (overpaid, spoiled children) the more it puts normal decent folk off from sport altogether, I admit I find soccer a struggle atm.
You're correct that those players were schmucks for taking the money and then dogging it, but Mac shares in the blame. As a GM or HC one also has to be a bit of a psychiatrist/psychologist and figure people out, how they are likely to respond. He didn't have to guarantee all that money. No one was bidding against him. He bid against himself. If they refused to sign, so what? Wish them well and say, "Don't let the door hit you in the arse on your way out."
I don't think there was many people not wanting Wilkerson signed up, a lot of shit psychiatrist/psychologist's on here as well lol
