GM Kevin Colbert Discusses Needing Le’Veon Bell at OTA’s and Minicamp

[Steeler Nation]

As expected Le’Veon Bell has not shown up for voluntary Phase 1 of the Pittsburgh Steelers OTA’s. A question fans are itching to know is, when will the star running back return to the Steelers facility. Not signing the franchise tag means Bell does not have to report to any voluntary or mandatory practices organized […]

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[slashsteel]

Were we as good as we could’ve been especially early? Probably not.

For me this is why they need to have a deadline in place that puts him in training camp at least two weeks before the season starts.

 

[Ike Kelly]

The deadline for the contract or camp? Long term contract has to be done by 7/15 which is a couple weeks before camp. The CBA allows the tagged player to skip all activities until he signs the tag. There will be a ramp up about the contract after the draft and rookie camp.


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[slashsteel]

The deadline for the contract or camp? Long term contract has to be done by 7/15 which is a couple weeks before camp. The CBA allows the tagged player to skip all activities until he signs the tag. There will be a ramp up about the contract after the draft and rookie camp.


Sent from my iPad using Steeler Nation mobile app

Deadline to sign the tag and get his *** in camp. Just want some reps taking place before the season starts...............

 

[Drink IRON City]

The deadline for the contract or camp? Long term contract has to be done by 7/15 which is a couple weeks before camp. The CBA allows the tagged player to skip all activities until he signs the tag. There will be a ramp up about the contract after the draft and rookie camp.


Sent from my iPad using Steeler Nation mobile app

I realize the CBA determines when said player needs to show up but it is wrong as it is written. He will get 14+ million for a salary and that salary should include TC. He can show up week one and yet get paid the same where as Ben Has to show up for TC to get his salary..... Maybe I'M NOT SEEING SOMETHING but it's like rewarding a player to be tagged....... I know the downside to the player and his feelings of long term deal are the offset. One thing is for sure.......BELL is LUCKY to have Adrian Peterson contract to help base his tag number.

My feelings are Bell isn't a team player and a me me me first sort of guy. The Steelers have spent near three years negotiating with this RB who can't seem to settle on how much $$$$ is enough. We've heard all the arguments both pro and con and my gut tells me he is done after this year as he won't retire with the 14+mil on the table. Move on little doggie move on.




Salute the nation

 

[Ike Kelly]

Drink, the thing is the owners agreed to the tag process. It was a compromise with the union. “Well you going to tag and limit the player from seeking long term security, then they don’t have to show up for work until the tag is signed.” However, the owners win in this too, as if a player chooses not to sign the tag and injures himself, the team is off the hook for the cap charge. The only people hurt are his teammates, who work better prepping with him than without.


Look, the Exclusive tag was a poison pill resolution both parties agree with as it forces both sides to work out an agreement. Since there is no arbitration in the CBA (thankfully), its a standstill until one side blinks or they compromise further. Steelers aren’t budging from their stance and LeVeon, for whatever reason seems to think he’s getting screwed by being paid top salary for his position by almost twice the current high contract for RB.


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[Steelr4evr]

Draft a running back who can catch passes and block. Hell maybe even break one for a long td.

 

[Stryker]

Perhaps we should have non-exclusive tagged him then Colbert...

 

[Stoney]

So done with him, sick of hearing his name. I really wouldn't be upset if they just let him walk with no compensation.

He isn't worth the money he is demanding, and he certainly isn't worth the drama he's created. **** Lev Bell, don't let the door hit you....

 

[Coach]

So done with him, sick of hearing his name. I really wouldn't be upset if they just let him walk with no compensation.

He isn't worth the money he is demanding, and he certainly isn't worth the drama he's created. **** Lev Bell, don't let the door hit you....

If Rooney wanted too, he could pull the offer a week before camp, forcing Bell to scramble and find a team with cap space.

Bell would make far less than 14.5 million and will have to get a feel for new blockers and a new playbook.

 

[stillwright]

If Rooney wanted too, he could pull the offer a week before camp, forcing Bell to scramble and find a team with cap space.

Bell would make far less than 14.5 million and will have to get a feel for new blockers and a new playbook.

They better draft a guy to be a viable option. I know I would be looking for a guy. abd if the right guy is there at the right round. Then pull the trigger.

 

[Stryker]

If Rooney wanted too, he could pull the offer a week before camp, forcing Bell to scramble and find a team with cap space.

Bell would make far less than 14.5 million and will have to get a feel for new blockers and a new playbook.

That is true. RBs, though have the easiest transition playing for new teams. Their job is largely the same, especially if they are the focus of an offense, like ours. They know what to do, and would probably adjust just as fast as he takes now to adjust to our offense after not spending the summer with them.

 

[TDX27]

Bell is all about ME just like most players. He doesn't care that he sucked for 3+ games last year and the team won in spite of him. The team will have to do it again this year. But, his *** better be healthy all year and he better go 100% on every play and not run out of bounds or avoid contact more than he already does.

 

[TDX27]

If Rooney wanted too, he could pull the offer a week before camp, forcing Bell to scramble and find a team with cap space.

Bell would make far less than 14.5 million and will have to get a feel for new blockers and a new playbook.

That would really screw Bell and his new team. He sucked for us for 3+ games last year. If he also had to learn a new playbook and a new team, he would be lucky to get half the yards he did last year with the Steelers.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Perhaps we should have non-exclusive tagged him then Colbert...

THIS, is exactly what we should have done. Let him test the market and if we think he was worth it, pay him if NOT, then get something outA hi me. Seemed like a no brainier but then again I'm not in everyday contact with these guys.



Salute the nation

 

[black and gold apex]

This is more and more of the NFL players of today. The ME attitude has taken over what was ONCE a great game. These players feel the game is all about them individually, no practice, spend more time on celebrations than their play, more concerned they are picked up on fantasy football than winng any game. Bell is the ultimate me player and Steeler fans are tired of his chump attitude.

 

[Tommy8Maddox]

I don't see Bell doing anything else than showing up at the last minute to preseason. I think he'll miss camp. He's really doing detriment to his teammates. More of his selfish attitude.

 

[Ike Kelly]

I don't see Bell doing anything else than showing up at the last minute to preseason. I think he'll miss camp. He's really doing detriment to his teammates. More of his selfish attitude.

That’s exactly what’s going to happen unless a contract gets done before 7/15. He missed camp under the tag last year, he will do it again.


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[diver]

So done with him, sick of hearing his name. I really wouldn't be upset if they just let him walk with no compensation.

He isn't worth the money he is demanding, and he certainly isn't worth the drama he's created. **** Lev Bell, don't let the door hit you....

You know, sometimes I think the same thing...then I watch a highlight of him just run over a Raven down at the goal line last year at home. Just run the guy right the heck over and I rethink that position.

 

[nitsuj1225]

That is true. RBs, though have the easiest transition playing for new teams. Their job is largely the same, especially if they are the focus of an offense, like ours. They know what to do, and would probably adjust just as fast as he takes now to adjust to our offense after not spending the summer with them.

This is true. I don't think it'd be much of an adjustment for Bell, it's more of an adjustment to whatever Oline is blocking for him because his running style is so unique.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Misconceptions Surrounding Le’Veon Bell, Part One: Greed and Loyalty
207
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell have a unique relationship. With that said, the Steelers’ All-Pro running back is also extremely misunderstood.
By Flipsteeler Apr 16, 2018, 10:36am EDT
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Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Le’Veon Bell tweeted recently how he is a victim, complaining about how fans view him as a villain.


He’s right.

I read every day here on BTSC, and in other media sources, comments blasting Bell for everything from poor play, to being greedy, to his checkered past. Some aspects of these views have merit, but many others are half-truths or outright falsehoods. Most upsetting are the false narratives spread by other writers and fans on the web. Steeler fans are some of the most voracious and knowledgeable in the NFL. There is no such thing as an offseason for the majority of fans. Hunger for news or opinionated articles drives the fanbase too often to take opinions and assumptions as fact and not for the value of what they actually are — just some writer or commenter’s opinion.

So, it’s time to set things straight: Are fans judging Bell fairly, by his real past and actions on and off the field, or are they judging him according to “what they’ve heard”? Let’s take the misconceptions about the Steelers star one at a time and focus on the money, contract and salary cap aspects.

No. 1: Bell is a greedy player.
It amazed me, once I thought about it, how simple this misconception is to dispel. Think about it like this: After this season, Ryan Shazier will have made $18 million in the NFL. That is more than 99-percent of us will ever make in our lifetimes. Shazier had no choice in what he was going to make this season, or in the first four years of his career, for that matter. Pittsburgh slapped him with the fifth-year option, which meant he could not even test the open market.


Do you feel sorry for Shazier?

Now, what if that were Bell laying on the field clutching his back this season — would you feel pity for him? Would he still be greedy in your eyes?

No. 2: The song and the $15 million man.
What is the main purpose of a rap artist? His job and goal are to entertain, and by entertaining, sell copies of his music, which generate money. Do you really take everything a rapper says at face value? If so, doesn’t that make you look a little naive?

I can get behind the ideas that there are little green men, ghosts and even fortune tellers (OK, I am joking about fortune tellers; that’s going a little too far.). However, I am not ever going to take a mediocre/bad rapper’s lyrics as gospel.

In his song, Bell drops the line, “I’m at the top and if not I’m the closest, Ima need 15 a year and they know this.”


Now, think about the timing.

Bell penned these lyrics right after his troubled 2015 season, which included a three-game suspension and ended with a severely torn MCL which limited him to six games. After a year like that, Pittsburgh obviously was not going to tear up the last year of Bell’s deal when he was making a paltry $1.1 million and the team held the option to franchise tag him or simply let him walk.

Think about the rap again, and now you tell me: Is Bell a fortune teller? Or a just a young dreamer? Or is he simply a guy trying to make a buck?

No. 3: The $17 million quote/rap/rant. (I personally do not even know exactly what to call it. Was he rapping or just talking smack?)
It caused a big fuss a couple of weeks ago when NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala stated in an interview that Bell “wants to be paid exactly like Antonio Brown is paid”. Steeler Nation and the entire NFL went ballistic; everyone was furious. She said it so offhandedly during the interview that it was like the idea was nothing new. Was she quoting a source? In my opinion, no, as she never mentions a source. As an NFL reporter, she would be sensitive to the need for quoting the source if there was one. So what I chalk this up to was a video in 2017 in which Bell responded to Brown after he called him out for not being in camp. You can watch it for yourself here.

Is Bell serious, is he rapping, is just having some fun with AB? All we can do is make our own assumptions. I already know what I think.

No. 4: Bell wants to be paid like a #1 RB and #2 WR, and he is just not worth it.
We have all seen this statement, which is attributed to Bell, via former teammate Ike Taylor. What exactly does this mean? Bell wants to be the highest-paid RB. I believe everyone is on board with that. Currently, the highest-paid RB under contract for 2018 is Jerick McKinnon at $10.5 million. That contract is an outlier because San Francisco is burning through cap money. (The cap hit is the highest year of his contract by a long way.) So instead of using McKinnon’s contract for comparison, I’ll use LeSean McCoy’s 2018 cap figure of $8.95 million instead, even though his contract is three years old and the cap has risen $34 million in that span. Now, let’s figure in what the average No. 2 WR gets paid. Using the contracts of the 33rd through 64th-highest-paid WRs for 2018, the average cap hit is $4.5 million per year. If you were to add McCoy’s cap hit and the average No. 2 WR, the total would be $13.45 million.

So, let’s examine the controversial part of him wanting No. 2 WR money by checking out the stats the average No. 2 WR puts up.

Average receiving yards for the 33rd- through 64th- highest-paid WRs (excluding TEs and RBs): 632 yards. Bell: 655 (46th ranked).
Average receptions (excluding TEs and RBs): 49.6 yards. Bell: 85.
Average yards per reception (excluding TEs and RBs): 12.1 yards. Bell: 7.7.
Jarvis Landry, who led all players in receptions, had only 1.1 yards per reception more than Bell.
While Bell does get blown out of the water in terms of yards per reception, he makes it up with a sheer volume of receptions than most #2 WRs simply cannot duplicate.

 

[antdrewjosh]

Misconceptions Surrounding Le’Veon Bell, Part Two: The Steelers Salary Cap Killer
162
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell have a unique relationship. With that said, the Steelers’ All-Pro running back is also extremely misunderstood.
By Flipsteeler Apr 17, 2018, 11:48am EDT
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Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
In the previous article, I probed into Le’Veon Bell’s perceived greed and his desire to be paid as the top RB and a No. 2 WR. Now I turn my sights to the perceived destruction of the team’s salary cap not only in 2018, but also future years. Kevin Colbert has been the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2000 and Vice President of Football and Business Administration, Omar Khan, was brought as Colbert’s right-hand man in 2001.


The salary cap is a winding, twisting minefield that not many human beings can navigate. The complexities are immense, but, year in and year out, the two navigate the waters with the best of them. So, where is the trust they know how to ensure that the Steelers do not put themselves into a major cap bind?

Without further ado, we’ll turn to the accusations swirling around Le’Veon Bell and the Steelers’ cap:

No. 1: Bell destroyed the Steelers’ cap space, and now Pitt cannot sign free agents to upgrade the team. It’s all his fault!
How does that crow taste? The Steelers were players in the free-agent market with quality signings of Jon Bostic and Morgan Burnett. Both are penciled in as starters and fill two glaring holes. Will they be Pro Bowl selections in 2018? Most likely not, but Pittsburgh doesn’t need them to be. The defense gave up 308 points last year, good enough for seventh best. The Steelers just needed upgrades compared to what they were staring at, not a complete overhaul — and in Bostic and Burnett, the Steelers have found quality upgrades which fit the bill. That reality soundly lays this argument to rest.

No. 2: OK, maybe Bell isn’t destroying the cap now, but he will decimate the Steelers’ cap down the road.
Armchair GMs and amateur capologists have been spreading this tale for the past year, ever since Bell was tagged for the first time. The Steelers’ biggest cap hit comes from Ben Roethlisberger, and no one knows if he is going to sign an extension, what that extension would look like, if he will retire, or if Pittsburgh will go out and be a player for a top-tier QB, a mid-tier QB or young gunslinger in the near future. No one has ever reported a full contract structure for a Bell contract, so how could anyone know it would be a burden in future years? The deal could be front-loaded like Jerick McKinnon’s or back-loaded like so many other NFL contracts. If the duo of Colbert and Khan were concerned about Bell killing the cap down the road, would they even be negotiating?

No 3: Restructures are negligent to the health of the cap down the road.
Pittsburgh has done four restructures so far in 2018. Not all that freed-up cap space went to paying Bell’s tag. These moves were necessities just to make the team cap compliant and to make cap room for offseason moves.


So, what were the cap implications according?

Stephon Tuitt: Tuitt’s restructure created $8.168 million in cap space while pushing $2 million per year into each of his remaining four years.
David DeCastro: DeCastro’s conversion freed up $6.79 while adding $1.7 million to each of the next three years.
Alejandro Villanueva: AV’s retooled contract produced a cap savings of $3.53 million and slid additional cap hits of $1.77 million into the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Antonio Brown: AB’s restructure generated a cap savings of $9.72 million in 2018 while pushing $3.24 million into each of his next four years.
These moves created a total cap savings of $28.2 million in 2018, and kicked $8.71 million down the road for upcoming years. OK, blame Colbert for tagging Bell for $14.5 million for the additional cap hit in each of the next few years, but who do you blame for the remainder? As with any win or loss, the cap liabilities are always a team effort.

No. 4: Not placing the non-exclusive tag on Bell was a mistake. The Steelers could have traded with doormat Cleveland and received two first-rounders.
Let me put this to rest once and for all, no team is going to give up two first-rounders for a RB, nor for any position that is not a franchise QB. It is even highly debatable that a top-notch franchise QB would nab two high first-rounders.


First, this is not 1989, and big-time players are not traded for a zillion draft picks, let alone three first-rounders. Teams learned from the folly that was the Vikings when they were swindled into the Herschel Walker trade. To highlight this, 77-game starter LT Cordy Glenn was traded from the Buffalo Bills to the Cincinnati Bengals so that the Bills could move up nine spots to 12th overall in the 2018 draft. The two teams swapped first-rounders. Left tackle is viewed by many as the second-most-important position in the NFL. If the Bills could only move up nine spots, how was Pittsburgh going to move up 27 or 23 spots to make a deal with Cleveland? Knock the Browns all you want, but their GM is John Dorsey, not your weird Uncle Fred. Dorsey had been with former Green Bay Packers GM Ted Thompson almost exclusively since 1991 and learned a great deal under his tutelage.

Steelers fans realistically will never learn the exact contract figures that would tell the full story of where the sides were. If only partial details come out, fans will again jump to uninformed conclusions. GM Kevin Colbert and Omar Khan need to be trusted more in their handling of the salary cap, and fans need to trust their judgements regarding its manipulations and the ramifications of doing so.


...

In the third part of this series I will be discussing the off-field issues and past injuries and how the perceptions surrounding them are either wrong or misleading.

If you missed any parts of this series, you can read them below:
Part One: Greed and Loyalty

 

[antdrewjosh]

Misconceptions Surrounding Le’Veon Bell, Part 3: The immature and oft-injured
105
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell have a unique relationship. With that said, the Steelers’ All-Pro running back is also extremely misunderstood.
By Flipsteeler Apr 19, 2018, 12:47pm EDT
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Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
In the first parts of this series, we dove into some of the rumors and misconceptions surrounding Le’Veon Bell’s greed and his unreasonable (or not-at-all-unreasonable) desire to be paid like a No. 1 RB and a No. 2 WR. We also discussed the (incorrect assumptions about) the implications his tag and future contract have regarding the cap. In this part, we’re going to dig even deeper and talk immaturity and injuries. In case you missed the previous articles, the links can be found at the bottom of this article.


Bell’s suspensions have cost him two games in 2015 and another three in 2016. This is one more game than shoo-in HOFer Ben Roethlisberger has been suspended for during his entire career. Does this make Bell a team liability? Keep in mind that young men make poor and immature decisions in the NFL (and outside the NFL) all the time. It’s how one learns from those transgressions and avoids sliding back into those behaviors that is important.

It’s also important to keep in mind that injuries are part of the NFL. Linebackers who are 250 pounds and run a sub-4.6 are commonplace. If Pittsburgh was concerned with Bell’s injury history, or thought his problems were chronic, the team would not even be trying to sign Bell to an extension. Roethlisberger has missed numerous games in his career, but that’s never stopped Pittsburgh from signing him to two giant extensions. Nor is the team concerned with Bell’s past injuries.

No. 1: Bell is a repeat offender in the NFL’s drug policy and, as such, is a liability for future discipline.
Time to set some things straight here. Being busted for marijuana possession and DUI August 20, 2014, pushed Bell into the NFL’s substance abuse program. However, Bell did not fail a drug test before he was handed a three-game suspension in 2016. He did miss multiple drug tests due to miscommunication with the tester.


”I’ve never purposely missed any tests. I’ve never failed any tests,” Bell said, according to the Observer-Reporter’s Dale Lolley. “I had surgery in November of last year. They tried to test me in November and December and I missed those tests. I couldn’t make it to the facility to get tested and they couldn’t come to me, and I missed those tests. I put all the blame on myself. In April, they tried to test me on a Saturday at 7 a.m. and I was sleeping. I can’t put the blame on anyone but me.”

It’s up to you to decide whether to blame this on immaturity or a real miscommunication issue or a fear he would not be able to pass a test. However, unlike its fans, the NFL does not hold a grudge, and regardless of what you chose to blame his actions on, Bell will transition from Stage 2 of the substance abuse program to Stage 1 come August. Correction, Bell will no longer be in the program come August. No matter how you slice it, he hasn’t failed a drug test or ran afoul of the law in 43 months.


Personally, I’m going to pin the blame on Bell’s immaturity. I am not going to hold his reckless past and poor decisions over his head forever. If you want to jettison one of the best running backs in the NFL because of something he did three and a half years ago, that is up to you. I, on the other hand, will give him the benefit of doubt and not continue to crucify him for something he did at 22. Do you still hold eight-year-old, much more serious allegations against Ben?

All NFL contracts come preloaded with clauses that carry with them forfeiture of bonus money and an easy out for a team to release a truly problematic player, but Pittsburgh has made no move to do so. And while it would be an issue for Pitt to lose Bell for multiple games due to a suspension, it is not detrimental money-wise, so Bell’s unwise actions didn’t actually cost the team money.

No. 2: Bell’s significant injuries will lead to a shorter career.
While this holds true with Terrell Davis with his chronic knees, nothing leads to think Bell will travel the same path.

List of Bell’s injuries

2013: A Lisfranc sprain suffered during the preseason hindered Bell’s availability for the first three games.
2013: A Week 13 Grade 1 concussion did not result in any missed games.
2014: Bell takes a heavy shot to his knee and suffers a hyperextension that cost him the playoffs.
2015: A Grade 3 torn MCL cost Bell the remaining eight games of the season. The injury resulted in surgery as the MCL was completely torn on a controversial tackle.
2016: Bell suffers a sports hernia that ended up requiring surgery. The injury was never reported on the NFL’s injury report, so it is unclear when it occurred.
None of the injuries Bell has sustained should be seen as career shortening or chronic -- not even the knee ligament tear. When fans think of knee injuries, they always cringe. However, an MCL tear is not a major knee injury. It is quite common. MCLs are like getting a wisdom tooth pulled compared to the more severe ACL tear.


If you do want to argue that the MCL tear will be career shortening, I’ll hold up Frank Gore as the poster child for disputing this idea. Gore tore two ACLs in college -- far more serious injuries than Bell’s MCL tear. Is Gore a superstar at 34? No -- nor should he be expected to be, especially since he was on a horrific team in 2017. And Gore hasn’t missed a game in seven years. He is a surefire HOF RB sitting behind fourth-place Martin by less than 100 yards. Now, Pitt is not looking to sign Bell through age 34, only through 30 or 31. Yet at 34, Gore is still highly effective, rushing for over 1,100 yards each year, and he’s done so with two much more severe knee injuries than what Bell suffered.

No. 3: Running backs have shorter NFL careers.
Well, that’s technically true, but this is a very misleading statement. Let’s delve into this statement further.

The NFL career lifespan for all NFL players is 3.3 years.
The average NFL career for an RB is 2.57 years.
Wide receivers do not fare much better at 2.81 years.
Quarterbacks, the huge money makers in the NFL, average 4.44 years.
The average career of an NFL player who makes the opening-day roster jumps to six years.
The average career of a player who is in the league at least three years jumps to 7.1 years.
A player with at least one Pro Bowl appearance/selection jumps to 11.7 years.
I am not saying that Bell is going to get to age 35 as Gore has, but he has already surpassed the average career of an NFL back and does not have chronic knees like Terrell Davis. It is very rare to see Bell lit up by a vicious hit in Sanders fashion. Most are glancing blows or simply regular tackles.

Will Bell learn from his past mistakes? Will he continue to remain on the straight and narrow? Only time will tell. Why be pessimistic and believe he will fall back into the lifestyle he was leading nearly four years ago?

Past injuries are not an indicator of future success. Chronic injuries do derail careers, but these types of injuries Bell has not suffered. Terrell Davis was forced to retire after seven seasons, but his last three were not productive because of his injuries. Is there an indication that Bell will not last until he is 34 like Gore? Realistically speaking, he probably will not. But, then, Pitt is not looking to sign him to an 8-year contract.

In the next part of this series, I will delve into fallacies regarding Bell and his statistics along with the idea that this might be a sign that his ability is actually in decline.

Part One: Greed and Loyalty

Part Two: The Steelers Salary Cap Killer

 

[antdrewjosh]

Misconceptions Surrounding Le’Veon Bell, Part Four: Declining Talent
17
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell have a unique relationship. With that said, the Steelers’ All-Pro running back is also extremely misunderstood.
By Flipsteeler Apr 23, 2018, 12:45pm EDT
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Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
In the first part of this series, I touched on Bell’s supposed greedy stance along with other monetary factors. In the second article, I talked about Bell’s supposed destruction of the Steelers’ cap. In the third article I discussed Bell’s past immaturity along with his injury history and examined how they relate to Bell’s future.

In this article I’ll delve into some of the fallacies that surround his 2017 stats.

Fans have stated how Bell started out 2017 sluggish for a variety of reasons, but not much is said about the teams Pittsburgh played against; these teams were solid defensively against the run. There is no denying Bell’s YPC was down last year, and he lost his breakaway speed. What is debatable is the importance of YPC, and if it even impacts his overall value to the team.

No. 1: One element I have heard over and over in the media and here at BTSC is how slowly Bell started in 2017. His statistics support this. But when do stats tell the full story?

Week 1 Cleveland Browns: Seventh-ranked run defense.

Looking at Bell’s YPC, some jump to the conclusion he had to have been rusty. But it’s important to note while a large chunk of the Browns was a dumpster fire, the run defense was emphatically not, and the Steelers’ offensive line wasn’t doing Bell any favors opening up holes. I implore you to go back and rewatch the game with this in mind, and you’ll see it clearly. Bell left very few yards on the field. He had 3.2 YPC during the game.

How did Cleveland do against other opponents in 2017?

Leonard Fournette had 3.9 YPC, 0 TDs, and 7 yards receiving.

The Vikings were seventh in the NFL in rushing, yet they only had limited success against the Browns with 2.69 YPC.

Jordan Howard was sixth in the NFL in rushing but managed an abysmal 2 YPC on 22 attempts against the Browns.

Melvin Gordon found better success with a 3.9 YPC. Gordon was 7th in the NFL in rushing.

Week 2 Minnesota Vikings: Second-ranked run defense

Bell accumulated an appalling 3.22 YPC. Another rusty game, right? Fans started to squirm and wondered if Bell hurt the team by not participating in training camp and preseason. Bell found only limited success against a top run defense, but that was the norm for others in 2017 against a stout Viking run defense.


Jordan Howard, in the second game versus the Vikes, put up 1 YPC. That is not a typo, that is actually a 1 YPC -- on nine carries, that yields nine yards.

Todd Gurley, whom a number of Steeler fans think is better than Bell, found the running just as tough. Gurley made Bell appear to have a stellar game with his pathetic 2.47 YPC -- a staggering figure, considering he averaged 4.68 YPC for the season.

The Vikings’ stout run defense did not wilt against the formidable duo of Mark Ingram and rookie phenom Alvin Kamara during the regular season. The Vikes put the clamp on the two and they combined to average 2.77 YPC, stunning for two backs who averaged 4.9 and 6.1 YPC, respectively, for the season.

The pair looked to avenge their early-season mediocre performances with a rematch in the divisional round. Again the Vikes were up to the challenge. Kamara had 3.9 YPC and Ingram put up a measly 2.5 YPC. The Vikings defense also was impressive against the Saints, who were fifth in the NFL in total rushing yards.

No. 3: Bell’s career is in decline. The 4.0 YPC average in 2017 is a clear indicator of this.

This nitpicking can be played off in several different ways:

Bell saw the teeth of some of the tougher defenses that pushed his numbers down.
So many close games led to Bell burning the clock more later in games while defenses sat and waited for him to get the rock.
The multiple suspensions and injuries reduce the effectiveness of the offensive line in the run game.
I do not view falling YPC as the canary in the coal mine. If this were indeed the case, many HOF RBs never would have made it into the hall. Instead, they would have been replaced.


There are 21 RBs in Canton. Let’s look at some their YPC stats.

Walter Payton faltered in 1981 with a 3.6 YPC average after a 5.6 YPC year. The next five years he was 4 YPC, with a high of 4.8 in 1985.

LaDainian Tomlinson’s YPC dipped in 2004 to 3.9, down from 5.2 in 2003. The next three years his average was over 4.3.

In 1996 Curtis Martin’s YPC tumbled to 3.5 from 4.2. He followed that up with a YPC over 4.0 for six of the next seven years.

None of Marshall Faulk’s first five years were over 4.1 YPC. And finished his career with a YPC average of 4.3. Many consider him the greatest dual-threat RB ever.

Emmitt Smith, who was behind arguably one of the greatest lines ever assembled, ended his career with a 4.2 YPC average. In 1996 his YPC was an abysmal 3.7, down from 4.7. He followed that up with four straight years of 4.1 or better and finished his career with a 4.2 average.

Oh, did you think I would forget Barry Sanders? Sanders finished his career with a stunning 5 YPC average, an incredible feat that will be hard to duplicate over a career by another player. Sanders was over 5 YPC in his first two seasons, but in the next three years he dipped to 4.5, 4.3 and 4.6. However, those years were but a distant memory when he rushed for 5.7 YPC the next season and then the impossible 6.1 YPC in 1997, during his 2,000-yard performance.


No. 4: Bell lost his breakaway speed.

I scratch my head on this one. Bell ran a 4.6 forty at the combine. I sure hope you are not confusing Bell with Chris Johnson or Zeke Elliott. Bell only has five carries over 40 yards so far in his career. His career-best 81-yard rumble exemplifies this. Bell went virtually untouched for 70 yards until he was caught from behind. This is the norm on any of his long plays.

I will point out that Bell did have his third-longest career reception of 42 yards in 2017 (the other two being for 43 and 48 yards). That reception was longer than any made in 2017 by the speedsters so many use as yardsticks, Tevin Coleman, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara.

Are fans comparing Bell’s 2017 season to prior seasons, to other players in 2017 or to the success of past RBs? In my opinion, YPC and the slow start in 2017 are not trends but simply blips, and they’re not predictors of future success or lack thereof. A number of HOF RBs saw dips at times in the primes of their careers only to rebound for fantastic seasons, even record-setting seasons.

What makes people think Bell cannot?

Through five years, Bell has averaged 129 yards from scrimmage per game, the most since the NFL merger. That just is not good enough for some. They bring up his suspensions, which are becoming a distant memory. These fans worry about past injuries that have no bearing on the future and worry about future injuries that may not even occur. These fans do not acknowledge how if Bell would have played the last game in 2017, he would have been the first Steeler to lead the league in rushing since just a few years after WWII. They instead focus on a slight dip in YPC, or the loss of the breakaway speed he never had.


Pittsburgh has used seven draft picks on RBs from the time Franco Harris was cut until Jerome Bettis signed on as a Steeler. Pittsburgh used another seven picks at RB trying to replace Bettis after he retired and drafting Bell. Does Steeler Nation really want to waste draft picks trying to fill a void that can be filled with arguably the best RB in the league instead of plugging other holes?

At least Colbert showed Steeler Nation that there is never anything to fear regarding the salary cap (he and Omar Khan make the big bucks for a reason).

Luckily, all of this fuss blows overcome Week 1, when No. 26 is on the field doing what he does best.

 

[slashsteel]

No misconceptions here, Steelers offered him a solid contract and nothing they offered despite increasing it. Was enough.

He will leave next year without getting worthy compensation for him. And that is irritating to see that kind of talent leave.

There is no team in that guy. Just ****** rap, and not enough money for me crap.