New York Jets center Connor McGovern considers his new teammate Le’Veon Bell to be “one of the greats” and he can’t wait to block for him.
Le’Veon Bell didn’t have much blocking in his first season with the New York Jets. The front office addressed the porous offensive line in free agency by signing Connor McGovern, along with George Fant and Greg Van Roten.
These new additions have to be licking their chops at the opportunity to block for Bell. McGovern certainly is.
“He’s a special player,” McGovern said of Bell to Ethan Greenberg of NewYorkJets.com. “He’s one of the greats and will go down as one of the greats, and I’m excited to have someone like that [in the backfield]. If you don’t make the perfect block, he’ll still make you look good and make something special happen. If you block for three yards and the play is supposed to get three yards, he’ll get seven or eight yards.”
McGovern knows that Bell is a guy who can make something out of nothing. Imagine what he can do when his offensive line is actually opening up holes and creating running lanes?
Putting his injury-shortened 2015 campaign, Bell’s 2019 season with the Jets was the worst of his career. But again, he was playing behind one of, if not the worst offensive line in football. Add in the fact that second-year quarterback Sam Darnold missed three games with mononucleosis and it’s clear that Bell was fighting an uphill battle.
The Jets are likely going to mix it up a little bit more in the backfield this year. The addition of future Hall of Famer Frank Gore and rookie Lamical Perine means that Bell will be seeing fewer touches in 2020, but that would also mean he’s fresher towards the end of the season.
Head coach Adam Gase prefers to throw the ball, but a better running game will open things up for Darnold to air it out. The Jets are hoping McGovern and his linemates can unlock Bell.