3 reasons Le’Veon Bell was overrated on the Pittsburgh Steelers
By Tommy Jaggi
Le’Veon Bell was a two-time All-Pro running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but here’s why he was actually overrated during his prime.
Le’Veon Bell has been stirring up drama once again. After earning just 76 total touches in 9 games with the Kansas City Chiefs, Bell thought it necessary to take to social media and voice why he will ‘never play for Andy Reid again. The former star running back continued that he’d rather retire first.
This is obviously childish in itself, but there are certainly reasons why Bell didn’t get the looks he was hoping for with the Chiefs (or the Jets, for that matter). He’s just not very good at this point in his career… but I’ll take it a step further. I think that Le’Veon Bell has always been somewhat overrated.
Despite his two-time First-Team All-Pro status when he was on the Steelers, I think Bell has always been a little overrated. Here are three factors that everyone fails to point out when it comes to Bell’s success in Pittsburgh.
Very good Steelers offensive line allowed Le’Veon Bell to be patient
I don’t blame you if you have a bad taste in your mouth after witnessing the trainwreck of an offensive line in 2020, but that group was very different several years back. From 2014 to 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the best and most consistent offensive lines in the league. Players like Alejandro Villanueva, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and Ramon Foster were all playing the best football of their careers. In fact, Marcus Gilbert was the worst lineman the Steelers had at the time.
This unit not only was one of the best in the league at keeping Ben Roethlisberger upright, but they also allowed Le’Veon Bell ample time to dance around behind the line of scrimmage before hitting a hole – something that hardly any other back in the NFL could afford to do. With three Pro Bowlers and two First-Team All-Pro offensive linemen leading the charge, one of the league’s most well-balanced offensive lines made Bell look better than he actually was.