The Jets are set at the top of their running back depth chart with Le’Veon Bell, but there’s not much behind him right now.
Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery, the Nos. 2 and 3 running backs on the depth chart last season, are unrestricted free agents. That leaves New York with no established depth behind its star tailback. Fortunately for first-year general manager Joe Douglas, free agency will provide him with the opportunity to fill those voids.
Buyer beware, though. There are some running backs available on the open market that could wind up making Douglas look bad down the road. Who are those backs? Let’s take a look.
Lamar Miller
Miller is a backup at this point in his career, but he is not one the Jets should be targeting. The 29-year-old tore both his ACL and MCL last preseason and it remains to be seen if he will ever get back to 100 percent.
The injury risk alone makes Miller worth staying away from. The Jets need a reliable backup for Bell, not one who is coming off major knee surgeries. Factor in Miller’s dip in production prior to his injury and that makes him a running back Douglas should wipe off his free agency big board.
Chris Thompson
There’s no debating that Thompson is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. That doesn’t really play to what the Jets need out of their backup running back, though, as Bell is the running back Adam Gase turns to on passing downs.
Thompson has also battled an assortment of injuries in recent years. He hasn’t played in more than 10 games since 2016, making him somewhat of a liability considering New York needs a durable back to spell Bell.
The 29-year-old makes sense for a lot of teams, but not the Jets given their current running back situation.
LeSean McCoy
McCoy got his first taste of life as a backup last season with the Chiefs, but he didn’t exactly excel in the role.
Let’s face it. The 32-year-old McCoy is over the hill. He’s not as quick as he once was and he’s not as much of a threat catching passes out of the backfield as he was in his prime with the Eagles and the early part of his tenure with the Bills.
It’s nice that McCoy is familiar with playing in the AFC East and has a bevy of experience, but it doesn’t seem like he has much left in the tank at this point.
Theo Riddick
Riddick has a lot working against him. He missed all of 2019 due to injury and has never been adept running between the tackles. The Notre Dame product is known more as a pass-catcher, but he hasn’t exactly excelled in that role throughout his professional career.
Riddick is the kind of guy you take a flier on and hope he can find a role in a backfield. The problem is, the Jets don’t have the luxury of taking a flier and hoping things work out given how thin they currently are at the position. This should eliminate Riddick from any serious consideration.
