Le'Veon Bell

[Yo Tee]

Oddly by your list of stats Willie Parker is the best

Must have missed where Parker caught 50-60 balls for 600 yards.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Bell is a want, not a need......

Oddly by your list of stats Willie Parker is the best because he didn't have the luxury of a top line like bell has had.

If your going to invest all your emotion in this, the Steelers are really going to let you down. They will not play games with Bell. They have let bigger and better players walk, Bell is no different. Only he's going to walk and find out like all others.....there is no place like the Burg.

Younger generations don't seem to understand this. We can debate all year long about it, but the Steelers have been a premier franchise in this league for many decades. And the business standards haven't changed.

 

[Yo Tee]

Don't want to talk about '08 & '09 because that stench brought about the debates over Colbert as a GM. But looking at how the O-line draft picks from the '10 draft until now...

2010: Maurkice Pouncey, (1st Rd)
2011: Marcus Gilbert (2nd Rd)
2012: David Decastro (1st Rd), Kelvin Beachum (6th Rd) - DeCastro missed this entire season due to injury, and Gilbert was placed on IR in week 5.

So essentially their full returns on O-line investments didn't come about until 2013. Noteworthy - Foster was a UDFA in 2009, and started 6-7 games that year. And didn't gain the starting job until midway into the 2010 season.

It's easy to argue that the O-line played a major factor in these offensive rankings. And those higher rankings correlate to BOTH the investment in the O-line & the drafting of Bell. The O-line nucleus wasn't exactly developed until 2014. Then it took a hit after Beachum left.

O-line is obviously important but we need a capable RB in order to take advantage of it.

 

[Psych-Ward]

Must have missed where Parker caught 50-60 balls for 600 yards.

Paint it anyway you'd like......

Willie Parker also demanded a Shit ton of money, not Bell kind of money, but what happened to him????

The Washington Redskins happened to him.

 

[Yo Tee]

Younger generations don't seem to understand this. We can debate all year long about it, but the Steelers have been a premier franchise in this league for many decades. And the business standards haven't changed.

Older generations don't seem to understand that the way football is played has changed which means the way football business is done has changed.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

O-line is obviously important but we need a capable RB in order to take advantage of it.

Very true. Never disagreed with that. James Conner has proved "capable". His dependability is debatable given the injury history. But Bell has a bad injury history as well. Again, not saying anyone can replace Bell 100%. But can they win without him? Yes.

 

[Yo Tee]

Paint it anyway you'd like......

Willie Parker also demanded a Shit ton of money, not Bell kind of money, but what happened to him????

The Washington Redskins happened to him.

It took Parker 3 years to turn back into a nothing RB, just the way we found him. His stats started declining after the 2007 season. So no, the Redskins didn't happen to him, he started sucking while still with us.

 

[Yo Tee]

James Conner has proved "capable"

How has this been proven? Where in the 3 games he played and 32 times he ran the ball did he prove to you that he's capable of taking over the starting RB spot?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

There's no team out there that doesn't have an established RB already that wouldn't want Le'Veon Bell. We have a talent that really hasn't been seen in a while. A RB that can be a #1 RB and also rival many WR1s on half the teams in the NFL. If you restructure Ben's contract, cut some guys that aren't vital to this team and guys that you can actually replace in the draft or free agency and you will solve all the money problems. RBs have been catching passes for years but not to the extent to what they are in today's NFL. The RB position is evolving into a catch AND run position. If you can't use your RB as a good target for a reception as well than you don't have a very good RB.

I'm not and I don't think anyone has questioned that Bell is a special talent. But imo, he's a dual threat RB...there have been many such RBs before him and after him. Sure, because of guys like Bell and David Johnson, the pendulum is swinging back to top tier RBs being taken higher in the draft so they are starting out on higher ground if you will.

When I read stuff like he's got WR2 numbers and here you're saying rival WR1 on half the teams...the stats might suggest that, but you have to watch the football games.

Most of the time when Bell is goes out for a pass, he is the outlet receiver often defended by a base LB, in zone or man, or at best a SS. It's strictly the OFC taking advantage of the DEF, that's why it's bigger deal today, but again, the RB value in the draft is starting to rise again.

If Bell was being covered by a CB1 2 or 3 90% of the time...his numbers are more impressive to me when you start talking about paying a guy $3-$4 mil additional because his stat line...but he's going against a LB or SS most of the time.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Older generations don't seem to understand that the way football is played has changed.

Yes it obviously has, and the Steelers have changed right along with it. The Steelers are one of the most successful franchises in the NFL for a reason. That doesn't change by the coming or going of 1 player.

 

[Psych-Ward]

O-line is obviously important but we need a capable RB in order to take advantage of it.

Not true......

Bam Morris was relevant only in Pittsburgh
As was Barry Foster, Amtos Zereoue, Willie Parker.....the list goes on and on.....

 

[Yo Tee]

Yes it obviously has, and the Steelers have changed right along with it. The Steelers are one of the most successful franchises in the NFL for a reason. That doesn't change by the coming or going of 1 player.

Tell that to the QB position. 2003, 6-10. Ben gets drafted. 14-0 and Super Bowl the following year. Cause and effect.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

How has this been proven? Where in the 3 games he played and 32 times he ran the ball did he prove to you that he's capable of taking over the starting RB spot?

Therein lies the meaning of "capability", or more importantly what it means to you. Hence why I put it in quotes. It takes a stretch of the imagination to think Conner can handle the job of a workhorse outright. I based my meaning on whether or not he can run the ball effectively. However limited his role was, he proved effective.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Tell that to the QB position. 2003, 6-10. Ben gets drafted. 14-0 and Super Bowl the following year. Cause and effect.

That is a completely different debate my friend. The importance of a franchise QB is exceedingly more important than a top-level RB talent. That really isn't a debate.

 

[Yo Tee]

Therein lies the meaning of "capability", or more importantly what it means to you. Hence why I put it in quotes. It takes a stretch of the imagination to think Conner can handle the job of a workhorse outright. I based my meaning on whether or not he can run the ball effectively. However limited his role was, he proved effective.

Don't see how you can say he's effective after 32 touches.

 

[Yo Tee]

That is a completely different debate my friend. The importance of a franchise QB is exceedingly more important than a top-level RB talent. That really isn't a debate.

Need key players in key positions. The game has changed for running backs. Keeping Bell puts us ahead of the curve.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

So if the Steelers lose Bell, they wouldn't be capable of drafting a replacement? And don't go telling me what some scouts tell you about the 2018 draft class because we all know scouts aren't fullproof.

 

[Yo Tee]

Not true......

Bam Morris was relevant only in Pittsburgh
As was Barry Foster, Amtos Zereoue, Willie Parker.....the list goes on and on.....

Once again, the game of football has changed. Especially for the RB position.

 

[Psych-Ward]

It took Parker 3 years to turn back into a nothing RB, just the way we found him. His stats started declining after the 2007 season. So no, the Redskins didn't happen to him, he started sucking while still with us.

Again paint it anyway you want,

Bell had a shot at as good deal when it was offered, Pittsburgh had to move on. Now they are over the cap and won't be able to make him that offer again.

This is how football works in Pittsburgh, always has. If you are set on Bell coming back, be prepared to be hurt.....
He has made it very difficult to return, he did it all by himself.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I've answered this question more than a handful of times already. Go back & read if you're that interested in my opinion. You clearly will never agree with it, so what's the point?

Short answer... Yes I'm confident. But that has more to do with my confidence in the O-line, regardless of what John Doe they have at RB.

The Steelers have almost $50 mil in cap space invested on the OL...Terry seemingly doesn't think that matters much in Bell's production...also the fact on this team with AB, Bryant, Juju, etc...teams have to defend him in coverage with a LB or S.

Connor obviously is a different type runner...I would want another RB to share the load with, but I have no problem going into 2018 with Connor and ________ as a RB1/2 duo with maybe a 65/35 workload split.