Le'Veon Bell surprises in our 2020 fantasy football projections

The New York Jets certainly aren’t the most potent offense in the league, but the beauty to fantasy football is that there’s value to be had on every roster. Of course, with eight picks in the upcoming NFL draft, there’s a good chance this roster looks a bit different in a few weeks. For now, let’s take a peek at the Jets’ numbers in our initial 2020 fantasy football projections.

Once an elite fantasy running back, Le’Veon Bell has fallen from fantasy grace over the last two seasons. Despite ranking eighth in the league with a healthy 311 touches, Bell finished just 16th among running backs in fantasy scoring. But our numbers have him again in the top 10 at the position. 

While it’s easy to dismiss projections we don’t agree with, it’s also worth understanding why Bell projects so far ahead of where we have him in our 2020 fantasy football rankings. Really, this all comes down to volume. Bell ranks 10th among running backs with 280 projected touches. So even with his poor projected efficiency (3.68 yards per carry), the volume has him top-10 in projected scoring. This is another instance where we move away from the midpoint of projections for rankings purposes and have Bell well below that average. Perhaps our rankings are a tad too low on him given his minimal competition for touches, but we’re underscoring the fact that we don’t want to be fooled again into drafting Bell too high.

Beyond Bell, there isn’t much to get excited about on this depth chart. Sam Darnold has long-term dynasty appeal, but his projections suggest this isn’t the year he breaks into the every-week fantasy conversation in redraft. Jamison Crowder still projects as the top target despite the free agent addition of Breshad Perriman, though these numbers could shift if the team addresses wideout in the draft. 

As for tight end, we’re in a bit of a tricky situation. Suspension and injury derailed any fantasy hope for Chris Herndon, and Ryan Griffin asserted himself as a solid streamer option in the meantime. As of now, we’re giving the larger target share to Herndon, but this is far from solidified. The numbers could certainly move if we get more clarity on how the Jets plan to deploy their tight ends.

[Find the full collection of analysis and insights on PFF's 2020 fantasy football projections for all 32 NFL teams. Check back as more articles will be added each day.]