Frank Gore is getting an opportunity to play in a 16th season. Seriously. He’s signed a one-year deal with the Jets, and Adam Gase says he’ll be a backup and change-of-pace guy behind LeVeon Bell.
I’m surprised. I can’t believe Gore (who’s 36) made it to this point. The Colts had him in 2017; they didn’t want him back. The Dolphins had him in 2018; they didn’t want him back. And he was with the Bills last year; they didn’t want him back.
A good teammate and leader, I suppose, but time marches on – especially at the running back position.
Buffalo tried to use him in short-yardage situations, with very little success. He carried the ball 16 times when they needed 1 yard to either score or keep a drive alive. He was successful on only 4 of those 16 carries. Not all of those plays were his fault, of course, but at the running back position, there are situations where you’ve got to figure out a way to get an extra yard or two on your own. At 36, Gore can’t do that anymore.
But the Jets are the Jets, and they do Jet things. It was Gase who brought Gore to Miami two years ago.
Gore has been in the league for 15 years. And if you break those into five-year chunks, you can see the decline. He’s averaged 3.9 yards per carry over the last five years, about a yard lower than when he was a young man. He averaged over 1,100 rushing yards in the first 10 years of his career; he’s been down at 722 and 599 rushing yards the last two seasons.
Hard not to respect his willingness to keep working at it, I guess. Maybe some of his professionalism rubs off on LeVeon Bell. But Gore is very much past his pull date.
If he makes the team and gets on the field, Gore will handle the ball for three different teams in the same division in consecutive years. Would be cool if the Patriots signed him in 2021 to come out and complete the division. I will look into trivia possibilities. I don’t know that anyone has played with all four teams in a division, and not many have played for three. Sammy Morris and Mike Gillislee come to mind as running backs who both played for the Patriots, Dolphins and Bills. Not sure if there’s anybody with all four. I will look into it later.
| FRANK GORE: FIRST FIVE YEARS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2005 | 49ers | 127 | 608 | 4.8 | 3 |
| 2006 | 49ers | 312 | 1,695 | 5.4 | 8 |
| 2007 | 49ers | 260 | 1,102 | 4.2 | 5 |
| 2008 | 49ers | 240 | 1,036 | 4.3 | 6 |
| 2009 | 49ers | 229 | 1,120 | 4.9 | 10 |
| Total | Avg | 234 | 1,112 | 4.8 | 6.4 |
| FRANK GORE: MIDDLE FIVE YEARS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2010 | 49ers | 203 | 853 | 4.2 | 3 |
| 2011 | 49ers | 282 | 1,211 | 4.3 | 8 |
| 2012 | 49ers | 258 | 1,214 | 4.7 | 8 |
| 2013 | 49ers | 276 | 1,128 | 4.1 | 9 |
| 2014 | 49ers | 255 | 1,106 | 4.3 | 4 |
| Total | Avg | 255 | 1,102 | 4.3 | 6.4 |
| FRANK GORE: LAST FIVE YEARS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2015 | Colts | 260 | 967 | 3.7 | 6 |
| 2016 | Colts | 263 | 1,025 | 3.9 | 4 |
| 2017 | Colts | 261 | 961 | 3.7 | 3 |
| 2018 | Dolphins | 156 | 722 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 2019 | Bills | 166 | 599 | 3.6 | 2 |
| Total | Avg | 221 | 855 | 3.9 | 3.0 |
—Ian Allan