The 2020 NFL season was a tough one for anyone residing at 1 Jets Drive as the club found the end zone about as often as its two previous General Managers found a quality football player.\u00a0 The NFL’s worst offense was led by running back Frank Gore who carried the football 187 times, averaging 3.49 YPC before calling it a career in week 15.\u00a0 Perhaps a tribute to his 18.7 second 40 time?<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, little-known and less used backup Ty Johnson made the most of his few opportunities, running the ball 54 times for 254 yards (4.7 YPC) on the season.\u00a0 It was a week 5 meeting between the Jets and Dolphins when Johnson saw his first carry of the season, running for an 8-yard gain.\u00a0 Hardly the thing dreams are made of, but it was about as good as anything the Jets had seen from a running back on offense up to that point.\u00a0 Then on the very next play, Johnson exploded for a 34-yard gain.\u00a0 It may as well have been a 99-yard TD run for the worst offense in the NFL.\u00a0 Did the Jets finally have a player on the roster who was capable of hitting a hole, outrunning defenders and making a difference?\u00a0 Jets fans wanted to know.\u00a0 Sadly, Jets coaches weren’t interested.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the next five weeks, Johnson would carry the ball 3, 0, 3, 0, 0 and 2 times respectively.\u00a0 Just eight carries over five games.\u00a0 Then in week 12, the Jets had no choice but to turn to Johnson when Gore went down with an injury.\u00a0 And behind the same offensive line that made Frank Gore look like a Walking Dead<\/em> extra, Johnson ran the ball 22 times for 104 yards (4.73 YPC) and a touchdown.\u00a0 That was it.\u00a0 Surely it would mean Johnson would be a big part of the offense moving forward, right?\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 As the season wound down to a close and Gore returned to the lineup, Johnson’s carries over the final 4 weeks of the season were 8, 3, 2 and 11.<\/p>\n