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Jets' Le'Veon Bell Vows to Make People 'Remember' He's NFL's Best RB in 2019
June 4, 2019
Le'Veon Bell is ready for the 2019 NFL season to begin.
Namely, the New York Jets running back is ready to remind people that he's an elite player at his position and a true difference-maker on the offensive side of the ball, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News:
Bell isn't just puffing his chest when talking about being the best running back in the NFL. During the 2017 season, he rushed for 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games, adding 85 receptions for 655 yards and two scores.
It was his third season since 2014 with at least 1,200 rushing yards, 75 receptions, 600 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns. Those numbers are a reminder that Bell remains an elite option as both a runner and receiver and is a true three-down feature back.
Bell also expressed excitement about working with second-year quarterback Sam Darnold.
"Sam is going to make me a better player, just because of the fact that he's so mobile," Bell said, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. "He's going to create opportunities I wouldn't usually have."
Bell was praising Darnold, though it's fair to question if he was taking a slight jab at his former quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger, who hasn't proved to be terribly mobile later in his career. And Darnold didn't exactly look like the second coming of Steve Young in his rookie season, rushing for 138 yards and a touchdown while taking 30 sacks.
But Bell will give Darnold a nice safety valve to help avoid some of those sacks. Certainly, he'll be a huge upgrade over the team's skill-position players from a year ago.
The 27-year-old running back might have some rust to shake off after holding out for the entirety of the 2018 season, but he'll be the focal point of a Jets offense that was in dire need of playmakers.