The Steelers won't rest Le'Veon Bell - even if they should
Le’Veon Bell’s workload is insane.
The Pittsburgh Steelers star has already carried the ball 252 times this season and leads the NFL at 28.5 touches per game. In 2016, after his suspension, Bell ran the ball 261 times in a dozen games, then 65 times in three postseason contests, even though he was injured early in the meeting with the New England Patriots. He caught 79 passes over the regular season and playoffs.
At about this time last year, Bell put Pittsburgh’s offense on his back. He ran the ball 220 times during the final six games of the regular season and Pittsburgh’s first two playoff wins, and caught 42 passes. Again excluding the loss to New England, Bell is averaging a ridiculous 30.2 touches per contest over his last 19 games.
Bell leads the NFL in rushing. Kareem Hunt is second on that list, just over 100 yards behind Bell. However, Bell has at least 48 more carries than any other runner, and of the league's top seven rushers, Bell has the lowest yards per carry at 3.9. He's never been a real home-run threat, but he's getting his rushing yardage on volume.
Bell also has more receptions than any other NFL running back. In fact, only 10 players at any position exceed Bell’s 61 catches, though 72 players have more receiving yardage than Bell after 11 games. Obviously, running backs won't have the same depth per target as wide receivers and tight ends, but five other running backs are ahead of Bell on that list, indicating that Bell's getting his receiving yards on volume as well.
He's still a great player, but the big plays haven’t been there for Bell in 2017 the same way they were in the past, and the yardage isn’t coming easy. Though his massive workload hasn’t taken a huge toll, it certainly could be taking a minor one. As he grinds out yardage with fewer explosive plays than we've gotten used to, it's fair to wonder whether he can hold up.
But coaches don’t think nearly as much about the long term. They are paid to win football games against great NFL competition. Late in the third quarter of a tight game on the road, Mike Tomlin doesn’t have the luxury of saying, “Hey, let's get Bell out of the game so he is fresher for the playoffs.”
The fact is, Bell is better at every facet of the running back position than anyone else on Pittsburgh’s roster. When DeAngelo Williams was around, it was easier to give Bell a series or two off. But Bell is by far the Steelers' best receiver at this position - he's one of the league's elite receiving backs - and he's excellent in pass protection.
Of course, he's a top pure runner as well, and that includes situational football like short yardage/goal-line situations. Pittsburgh throws the ball near the goal line a high percentage of the time, which still favors Bell, who leads the league in red-zone touches.
If the Steelers were in a late-game situation where they were playing with a big lead, they'd be wise to insert rookie James Conner into the lineup. But Pittsburgh's mostly been involved in close games, giving the team little reason to pull Bell, and Conner's played just 49 snaps. While the rookie's flashed, he's also had trouble staying healthy, and he's questionable in protection at this stage of his career.
Bell’s in an interesting long-term situation with the Steelers. He's playing on the franchise tag, which is a ton of money to be paying a running back in today's NFL.
Pittsburgh could give him a raise and franchise tag Bell yet again next year. They could let him walk and receive a compensatory pick the following year while opening quite a bit of cap space. Or they could lock Bell up on a long-term deal. That sounded like a priority before the 2017 season began, but obviously it didn't happen.
Between injuries and suspensions, Bell's missed a lot of time. He's also endured a historic workload at a position where sustained excellence in the NFL is rare. Under those circumstances, are the Steelers willing to make a serious investment?
The Steelers still don't know whether Ben Roethlisberger will return in 2018, or whether that will be his last season. If they're going to make a run with him in 2018, they'll likely feel they need Bell on board. If they're breaking in a new (and presumably young) replacement for the veteran, they may want that new quarterback to be able to lean on Bell too.
The huge turnaround in Roethlisberger's play isn't exactly easing the burden on Bell. For much of the first half of the season, Roethlisberger was a shell of his former self, but now he's playing nearly as well as any quarterback in the league.
Pittsburgh spreads the field horizontally as much as any passing game in the NFL. At this stage of his career, Roethlisberger is very good at diagnosing mismatches in Pittsburgh’s favor before the snap - and that of course includes the massive threat Bell creates as a receiver.
With Roethlisberger's improved performance and an offensive line that's been superb in protection, the Steelers' offense is humming. If Bell breaks down again, it could derail Pittsburgh's quest to knock off New England and capture a seventh Lombardi Trophy - but, in the absence of superior options, the team needs to keep relying on him to get that far.
It's a precarious situation, but expect Bell to keep getting the football at an unbelievable and unmatched clip.
Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast." Find him on Twitter @WilliamsonNFL.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)