The New York Jets spent a boatload of money this offseason to try to improve their roster. One of their biggest signings was Le'Veon Bell to hopefully help Sam Darnold continue to develop.
Bell drastically improves the backfield in New York and gives Darnold a dual-threat weapon. Last season, the Jets ranked 26th in rushing offense.
The newly signed running back comes from the Pittsburgh Steelers—where he held out all of 2018. Bell sat out the whole season due to receiving the franchise tag for the second time with the team.
From there, the whole situation went downhill between the Steelers and Bell. Their relationship was irreparable so therefore, Bell found himself free to sign elsewhere in 2019.
The former Steelers running back decided to land in New York to play for the Jets. Bell is hoping to win over the fans in New York in his first season with the Jets.
Here are three early goals for Le'Veon Bell in 2019.
3. Remain a Dual-Threat Weapon
Bell is at his best when he is being used as a weapon in the rushing and passing attack. In his five seasons with the Steelers, Bell has gotten 75 or more receptions.
Darnold needs more weapons on the Jets offense so Bell will want to show he can be one of the best offensive weapons in the NFL once again. In reality, Bell could end up being Darnold's security blanket out of the backfield.
With Adam Gase as head coach, it's likely that Bell will be the focal point of the offense. The Jets offense will be more dangerous if Bell is a dual-threat back again—making teams gameplan for him in both facets of his game.
In Pittsburgh, Bell was constantly the player that opposing teams game planned for. As a result, it made their offense better and propelled Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger's performance forward.
The Jets and Bell are hoping he returns to being one of the most dynamic backs in the NFL in 2019.
2. Improve Jets Running Game
Again, the Jets had an abysmal rushing attack in 2018. They only ranked 26th in the NFL in rushing offense, thus, why they signed Bell this offseason.
It shouldn't be too hard to have a better run game than last season. Regardless, Bell will want to drastically improve the rushing offense.
Enough so, that the Jets have one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL. If that happens, it will make things so much easier for Darnold in his second season in the NFL.
The Jets traded for Kelechi Osemele which shows they are committed to running the ball more in 2019.
There's no doubt that Bell wants to improve the team in terms of the running game and if they do, the Jets offense should take a huge step forward in 2019.
1. Stay Healthy
Staying healthy is likely a goal for basically every player in the NFL, every season. This is especially true for someone who's been injured at unfortunate times as Bell has during his time in Pittsburgh.
The good thing is, Bell sat out the 2018 season so he should be fresh coming into the 2019 season. Although, you can view it the other way around where since he sat out during 2018, he's more prone to get injured.
Either way, remaining on the field should be an important goal for the Jets new running back. The Jets front office will want to see him remain healthy after all of the money they gave him this offseason.
Keeping Bell healthy will be essential for the Jets having success on the offensive side of the ball. The Jets will likely try to limit his workload to an extent to keep him fresh throughout the season.
Running backs take a lot of punishment running between the tackles and someone like Bell receives more wear and tear to his body in the receiving game.
Therefore, Bell's ultimate goal in his first season in New York will be to stay healthy the whole 2019 season.
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