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.
Volume production is not a great way to assess running backs
Being able to tout the rock 25 times per game is certainly an asset to have. However, volume stats are a terrible way to measure how good a running back is in the NFL. Sadly, casual viewing and fantasy football has made it so many recognize the name as one of the best players in the league.
Bell did have some really good years, but as I mentioned, there were several other factors that played into his success (as there always is for running backs). This isn’t to take anything away from his receiving ability, as I truly believe Bell was one of the best receiving backs in the game. As a runner, however, he was largely a product of opportunity.
In 2017 with the Steelers, Bell carried the ball a league-leading 321 times in 15 games (21.4 carries per contest), according to Pro Football Reference. Unfortunately with all of these touches, he managed just 1,291 yards (4.0 per carry) and had a dismal 3 runs of 20 or more yards.
Additionally, Bell saw a whopping 106 targets in the passing game but managed just 7.7 yards per reception. Despite his 406 total touches in 2017, Bell averaged a very pedestrian 4.8 yards per touch (combination of rushing and receiving) and managed just 1 touchdown every 37 touches. Volume does not equate to efficiency, and I think his reputation was inflated due to his raw statistics.
Ben Roethlisberger and downfield passing game made it easy for RB to succeed
For almost every team, there are three factors that are largely responsible for a running back’s success in the NFL: scheme, offensive line, and the downfield passing game. It’s been years since Ben Roethlisberger has been considered one of the best deep-ball throwers in the league. However, Le’Veon Bell was quite fortunate that he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers during Ben Roethlisberger’s prime, and Big Ben could sling the ball down the field with the best of them.
With the assistance of four-time All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown and freakish deep threat Martavis Bryant, Roethlisberger really put fear into opposing defenses – forcing them to play deep Cover 2 often against Pittsburgh. This offered some extremely favorable boxes to Le’Veon Bell.
While many running backs around the league had tough sledding with 7 and 8-man boxes, Bell saw a vast amount of 6-man boxes over a five-year span in Pittsburgh thanks to Roethlisberger and the constant threat of beating teams down the field. Allowing Bell to gain some chunk yardage on the ground was better than the alternative of getting shredded by Brown down the field. Bell was drafted by the perfect team for him at the perfect time.
Don’t get me wrong; Le’Veon Bell was still a very good football player. But I don’t think he’s the perennial All-Pro-caliber player that everyone tried to make him out to be. A running back’s success is tied to the scheme, the offensive line, and the passing game, and he couldn’t have been in a better position to succeed than he was in Pittsburgh.