Joe Douglas and the New York Jets found themselves a versatile, do-it-all running back in Florida product La’Mical Perine.
An NFL team can never employ too many running backs. Since the league transitioned to a running back-by-committee approach, even a Le’Veon Bell can’t stop the first sentence from holding great truth.
It’s precisely why Joe Douglas and the New York Jets signed Frank Gore and drafted La’Mical Perine in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft.
The kid is a bonafide do-it-all back, similarly to Bell, and should contribute immediately. Blewett’s Blitz recently broke down Perine’s collegiate footage (35 plays).
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Not the play I was necessarily looking to start with, but it showed up early in his film review. Perine is a willing blocker, both in the passing game and as a lead/frontside player. Here, Florida runs a quarterback power on fourth-and-1 with Perine as one of the lead blockers. Perine works to the edge, the Mike backer scrapes overtop, and Perine drops his shoulder into him as the quarterback gets to the outside for the first down.
Florida runs a mid-zone out of this gun set. While working into the mesh point, Perine reads the play side defensive end then defensive tackle. Perine sees the penetration into the B-gap and hops into his cut. It buckles his right leg a little, and he takes an extra step with his left. His legs collide with the right guard, but he is able to get inside. It seems the linebacker is working overtop, so Perine cuts underneath him and works for a few extra yards.
Tough spot for Perine here as he takes the handoff on the inside/mid-zone as the right guard gets beat immediately with an inside rip. Perine takes the handoff with the defensive tackle 2-3 yards into the backfield and directly in his track. Perine throws on the breaks, hops inside and makes a yard gain out of what should’ve been a 3-yard loss. We could’ve seen cleaner feet for a more sharp/sudden cut inside but still a good play from Perine.