ESPN conducted a poll of 50 NFL executives, scouts, and players asking a simple question: Who is the best running back in the league heading into the upcoming season?
Giants and Jets fans will likely feel very different about the results.
Saquon Barkley came in at number one on the list, ahead of Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey, Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott, New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara, and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, who came in at numbers two-through-five, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 was Jets back Le’Veon Bell, who placed behind Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook, Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon, and Oakland’s Josh Jacobs.
Bell shared his opinion on ranking 10th in the NFL with three letters: “LOL”
The 28-year-old’s first season in the Jets certainly wasn’t up to Bell’s own standards, as he ran for a career-worst 789 rushing yards (excluding his 556 yards in 2015 when he played just six games) and 3.2 yards per carry.
But the Jets’ offense, as a whole, struggled to find any real consistency or balance for just about all of 2019. The team managed to finish with a 7-9 record, but expectations were definitely higher for Bell and the rest of the offense.
As for Barkley taking home the top spot over McCaffrey (now the NFL’s highest paid runner), ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler explained that opposing teams said they were more fearful of Barkley as an offensive weapon.
“You have to dedicate four players to him on every play,” a veteran linebacker explained to ESPN.
Barkley missed three games due to injury in 2019, but he still managed to rush for more than 1,000 yards. And while Bell’s numbers were down, his patient running style could benefit greatly from the Jets’ newly rebuild offensive line in 2020.
Whether Barkley and Bell break out for huge seasons in 2020 is yet to be seen, but New York, for the time being, can call itself home to two of the top 10 rushers in all of football.
