Pittsburgh Steelers: Le’Veon Bell does not belong in this era of RBs
The Pittsburgh Steelers as I stated earlier in the offseason has the best offense in the NFL.
QB Ben Roethlisberger is still in his prime, WR Antonio Brown is still regarded as the best threat through the air and Le’Veon Bell, well, he’s just scary.
The hype this season has been the steady production of the Dallas Cowboys rookie, Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott is the league’s leading rusher with 1631 yards but, would those numbers have competition if Bell didn’t miss the first four games of the season?
[Mark]Yes. Bell still finished the year with 1268 yards but, his production went beyond the A Gap. If I’m building a team I want players that are hybrid. I love watching guys like Elliott, Adrian Peterson, and LeGarrette Blunt play but it’s something special about the dual backs. Call me old school but I miss the Roger Craig’s, Brain Westbrook’s, Ricky Waters and Marshall Faulk’s of past seasons.
A successful season for a running back is still the 1000 yard mark but how do you place a value on the 2-3 backs in the league that can give you 1400+ yards on the ground and then give your offense an extra boost with 80 receptions for another 700-800 yards?
This is why there is no comparison when it comes to Peterson, Elliott, and Bell. Bell is great and the others are awesome. An RB needs to be more than just a runner, he needs to be a weapon. The NFL is a passer’s league and if the QB can’t trust your hands, then you just put your offense and QB in a box. This is where guys like Bell, David Johnson, and LeSean McCoy stand above the rest.
Roethlisberger knows that if Brown is double-teamed then he has another option in Bell, whereas Dak Prescott must tuck the ball and run himself. This wrinkle is what makes the Steelers offense so dangerous.
Elliott has a great chance to win MVP but glances over at Bell’s stats will show his contributions hold more weight over Elliott’s easily. Elliott can wear Emmitt Smith’s jersey in practice but he has yet to reach the skill set in which Smith dominated the game during his career.
Bell is more than a runner, he’s a football player. We often take for granted what Bell has accomplished during his brief career because he does it so effortlessly. He’s one of those players where the games just look so easy to him that you often wonder if he belongs in the era. He’s the best we have in this league and honestly, it’s been that way for quite some time now.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
