The Jets gave LeVeon Bell a big contract. Now, can they be trusted to properly use him? It’s a lesser team, and their new coach, Adam Gase, tended to underuse running backs in Miami.
In each of the last two years, Gase’s offenses ranked last in rushing touchdowns – just 4 in 2017, and 7 TDs last year. Miami ranked 29th and 18th in rushing the last two years, but Gase tended to get pass happy around the end zone.
In each of the last two years, the Dolphins ranked last in rushing attempts when they were inside the 5. That’s both plays and percentage of plays. In 2017, Miami was inside the 5 for only 11 plays; it passed the ball on 8 of them. Last year the Dolphins were in that part of the field for 23 plays, with 16 passes and 7 runs.
In 32 games, that’s only 10 running plays (resulting in a total of 10 yards, with 3 TDs and a 2-point conversion). Since 2017, every other team has scored over 3 times as many rushing touchdowns inside the 5. And the Dolphins over the last two years ran the ball on a league-low 29 percent of their plays in that part of the field.
| RUSHING INSIDE THE 5 (2017-2018) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | 2Pt |
| New Orleans | 68 | 79 | 1.16 | 28 | 4 |
| LA Rams | 57 | 79 | 1.39 | 26 | 1 |
| New England | 56 | 52 | .93 | 25 | 0 |
| Carolina | 51 | 74 | 1.45 | 21 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 47 | 38 | .81 | 18 | 0 |
| Kansas City | 46 | 67 | 1.46 | 21 | 1 |
| Jacksonville | 45 | 49 | 1.09 | 18 | 0 |
| San Francisco | 45 | 17 | .38 | 14 | 0 |
| Baltimore | 44 | 45 | 1.02 | 16 | 1 |
| Dallas | 44 | 52 | 1.18 | 17 | 1 |
| Atlanta | 42 | 25 | .60 | 13 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 42 | 44 | 1.05 | 22 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 42 | 39 | .93 | 11 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay | 41 | 39 | .95 | 17 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 39 | 38 | .97 | 18 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 38 | 11 | .29 | 13 | 0 |
| NY Giants | 38 | 40 | 1.05 | 11 | 2 |
| Detroit | 36 | 34 | .94 | 14 | 0 |
| Seattle | 35 | 14 | .40 | 10 | 0 |
| Houston | 35 | 45 | 1.29 | 14 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 35 | 37 | 1.06 | 14 | 1 |
| Denver | 34 | 38 | 1.12 | 14 | 0 |
| Indianapolis | 34 | 40 | 1.18 | 15 | 1 |
| NY Jets | 34 | 44 | 1.29 | 15 | 1 |
| Chicago | 33 | 63 | 1.91 | 18 | 1 |
| Oakland | 32 | 35 | 1.09 | 12 | 0 |
| Washington | 31 | 32 | 1.03 | 14 | 0 |
| LA Chargers | 31 | 26 | .84 | 13 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 26 | 30 | 1.15 | 13 | 0 |
| Green Bay | 26 | 30 | 1.15 | 13 | 0 |
| Arizona | 19 | 22 | 1.16 | 11 | 0 |
| Miami | 10 | 10 | 1.00 | 3 | 1 |
Bell is a great back. I hope Gase remembers to use him.
—Ian Allan