Le'Veon Bell View on Gase and the Offense

You can post all your players praising Gase and convoluted pro-Gase arguments, but in the end, it's pretty common knowledge outside Jets forums that he's a bad coach, and this season probably won't end well.

 

He's definitely considered to be in the bottom 10-12 coaches of the league. I don't think anyone think he's a great coach. However, he isn't the most hated man in football like he's painted here and he's far a controversial figure that has massive personal problems with all players.

You also can't really evaluate Gase without factoring in that half of the games he's coached in have been with a backup quarterback.

 

I don't know. How do you "use" a RB when the OL can't run block OR pass block? I mean, if you're going to excuse the QB's play because of the OL, you kinda have to excuse ALL the skill players for the same reason.

I think the Jets showed some improvement, at least in the passing game, at the end of the season. Yeah, the pressure was off and the competition was not as tough. But improvement was made. I'm looking for some additional improvement this year because I expect the OL to be at least average and possibly better than average in one or more areas. Though I do think Covid could keep the progress hidden for longer.

I think Bell just wants to win and have fun. He's already being paid.

 

Use him the way his previous team used him when he was an all-pro RB. Design passing plays for him rather than just having him chip block and be there for a dump off. Compare the route charts from 2017 and 2019 (it’s on NFL.com) and you’ll see what I mean.

There’s absolutely no excuse for the way he mishandled the RB situation. He had a stud pass catching RB and another one who is always a receiving threat out of the backfield. He barely played them together. He even said he was doing to do it in camp which means he knew it was the logical move, and then rarely did.

 

I'll tell you my thoughts on Adam Gase: Smart, knows football really well, Seems like a know-it-all jerk. Doesn't care what people think about him at press conferences. Is more of an Offensive Coordinator than Head Coach, but that is okay if you have a strong defensive leader like Gregg Williams running your defense. The extreme negativity sent towards him is foolish. Gase is in the same boat as the actual Jets. No one takes them seriously. It is up to them to change people's minds. I think they can.

 

I mean he still caught 66 balls and was putrid after he caught the ball. Dude looked like he had cinder blocks on his feet. Go back and watch the tape. His first step after the reception was incredibly slow.

To counter though - runningbacks who are truly great pass catchers don't need incredibly special play calls or usage to be effective at creating space and yardage where there isn't. McCaffrey this year is a good example of that. Yeah they split him out some. But he dominated catching the ball as the last possible option as Kyle Allen's check down when he was under siege (which was pretty much all season because Allen held on to the ball forever to avoid throwing picks).

People really underestimate the great situation Bell came from and overrate him as a player to an extent. That's not to say he wasn't an excellent performer in that situation in Pittsburgh though. He played with a Hall of Fame quarterback, a Hall of Fame receiver and (who should be at least) a Hall of Fame guard and probably the best pull guard and trap blocker of our generation in DeCastro. That includes a year by year top 5 offensive line.

Compare Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and that offensive line with Darnold coming off mono in his first year in a system, Robbie Anderson, and one of the worst offensive lines in NFL history in terms of run blocking yards per carry.

I mean - it's easy to see why the situation was a disaster for him and the running game. Split Bell out some more and does it help that situation that much? Maybe some. I agree we should've tried it more. But to think it would've transformed the offense into anything more than it was is kind of silly.

And don't forget - this was Bell entering age 27 season after a 21 month hiatus who has never been away from that great situation. He looked better at the end of the year but man was he indecisive. And there's a big difference between indecisiveness and patience. It was night and day from him as a player in Pittsburgh. He wasn't patient. He was pussy footing into the hole because he could've get there fast enough.

 

Sigh. I just remembered banging the table for David Decastro and we went and selected low-motor Quinton Coples.

 

Yeah same with me when there were 6 offensive lineman ranked in the top 35 free agents in 2019 (including two centers) and we decided to sign a runningback entering their graveyard years that no one wants and an inside linebacker that struggles against the pass to a league high contract.

At least we got Kelechi Osemele out of the whole ordeal.

 

Out of interest, did any of those 6 OL do any good?

I thought the guy that we let go to the Bills, the guard we made a C who then proceeded to fling the ball all over the place with a broken finger, played well enough back at the Bills but I can't remember his name at all lol

Edit Spencer Long and it seems he wasn't trusted to take centre even after an injury, apparently.

Ah well.

 

Trent Brown was a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career last year. I mean I don't know about you but everytime I saw McCaffrey break off a 40+ yard run this year it was a simple trap right off the center in the A-gap (Paradis). Morse stabilized that offensive line to the tune of being the 8th ranked rushing team in the league and middle to lower tier of the pack in sacks allowed. Roger Saffold was on the #3 rushing offense in the league.

JaWuan James was hurt all year so he's kind of a question mark. Never really been that good of a tackle to be honest. And Daryl Williams, I can't really say. He started and has been the started for 3 years in Carolina minus his injury in 2018. Tackle has kinda long been a weak spot there though.

 

Yes, Trent Brown did well until injury struck him late on in the season, a huge contract that though but I guess comparable to Bells.

Morse? Mitch Morse is at the Bills.

McCaffrey is a beast though be interesting to see how he gets on next season.

 

I edited to add Paradis in parentheses next to the McCaffrey comment.

Morse was on the Bills who as I alluded to had the 8th ranked rushing offense and was solid in pass protection.

I'm not really for big free agency spending in general. However if we're going to do it (the Maccagnan way) it would've been nice if he poured those resources into the weakest parts of the team.

We could've had an entirely new offensive line with Bell and Mosely's money.

 

Sometimes I think Jets fans have been spoiled in one respect... that the OL had been solid to even great for a long time. Many tend to not realize that the OL last year (and even over the last few years) has been historically bad.