Michigan State Football: LJ Scott on Le’Veon Bell-type career trajectory

Michigan State football could have yet another running back great as LJ Scott is facing a Le’Veon Bell-esque career trajectory.

Entering his third year with Michigan State football, LJ Scott is on an upward trajectory that resembles the path Le’Veon Bell took. Although Scott was a higher-rated recruit, by a wide margin, out of high school, the two running backs play an eerily similar style.

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Bell, a former two-star recruit from Ohio, played three seasons for Michigan State from 2010-12. He rushed for just over 600 yards as a true freshman and 948 yards as a sophomore. He broke out as a junior, rushing for 1,793 yards in a down-year for the Spartans as the offense was not quite up to par under new quarterback Andrew Maxwell.

Scott, a four-star recruit from Hubbard, Ohio, is entering his third year with Michigan State. He rushed for 699 yards as a freshman and 994 as a sophomore, putting him on pace to break Bell’s career mark of 3,346 yards but his 33 touchdowns will be tough to catch up to. He, too, is entering his third season with a first-year starting quarterback taking over.

There’s a chance the offense will need to rely on Scott as he’s the most proven offensive weapon the Spartans have. And, with a first-year full-time starter at quarterback, he will be relied on to take the pressure off the young gunslinger.

Could he rush for over 1,700 yards like Bell did? It’s possible, but Bell also didn’t have quality backups like Madre London and Gerald Holmes to split carries with. If he were to run the ball 382 times like Bell did in his junior campaign, that would mean Holmes and/or London were underperforming or injured.

Still, it’s not just the number of yards that Scott racks up in 2017 that will make him Bell-like, but the effectiveness per carry. He went from 4.8 yards per carry as a freshman to 5.4 as a sophomore. Bell, on the other hand, averaged 5.7 in year one and then dropped to 5.2 before dropping to 4.7 in his final season.

Both running backs have extremely impressive field vision and patience. Scott is still improving on the patience/vision while Bell is proving to be the best at what he does in the NFL.

Moreover, both have similar body types — Bell was 6-foot-2, 237 pounds at MSU and Scott is 6-foot-1, 231 pounds — and added receiving to their games during their sophomore seasons. Bell had a quiet year catching the ball as a freshman before ramping it up as a sophomore and same goes for Scott.

Not to mention, Bell and Scott know a thing or two about hurdling defenders.

The similarities in playing styles are there and so are the numbers, all that needs to happen is a continued improvement during Scott’s junior season.

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Could we soon see two Michigan State running backs pacing the NFL at the position? If Scott lives up to his potential, the answer is yes.