Le’Veon Bell

Can Le’Veon Bell Return and Power Pittsburgh To A Super Bowl, Bob Sanders Style?

by Chase Stuart on September 9, 2018

Pittsburgh could use this running back.

Things got really ugly this week in Pittsburgh, as Le’Veon Bell remains in a dispute with the Steelers over his franchise tag. Bell is currently refusing to play under the tag, and there is no immediate end in sight.

There is a long-term end in sight, tho: Bell will need to report for the final six games of the season in order to accrue another season of play; otherwise, Pittsburgh could just franchise Bell yet again for the same $14.5M tag after the season.

Bell will come back in November at the latest, which will also make him available to play in the postseason. And that’s where all of this could get interesting. Is it possible that Pittsburgh might wind up better off in the playoffs (assuming they get there, and an opening day tie against the Browns doesn’t engender confidence) if Bell doesn’t have a full workload behind him?

I’m thinking back to Bob Sanders and the 2006 Colts. The hard-hitting safety was one of the best defensive players in the NFL in his prime, but was rarely healthy. In 2005, he was an All-Pro safety; in 2007, he was the AP Defensive Player of the Year. In between? He missed most of the 2006 season due to injury, and the Colts defense suffered for it. Indianapolis ranked 21st in yards allowed, 23rd in points allowed, and 32nd in rushing yards allowed. [continue reading…]

Tagged as: Le’Veon Bell

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Le’Veon Bell, Rushing Yards Leaders, and Yards Per Carry

by Chase Stuart on December 17, 2017

in Checkdowns, Rushing

Bell leads the NFL in rushing yards and rushing attempts.

Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is having another sensational season. Since 2014, Bell is averaging 91.3 rushing yards and 46.5 receiving yards per game. Bell actually leads all players in yards from scrimmage since 2014 despite missing 14 games! He’s averaging 137.8 yards from scrimmage per game since 2014; Ezekiel Elliott is second at 129.9, but he only played in 23 games. If you exclude Elliott, the next two players are wide receivers (Antonio Brown and Julio Jones) at 106.3 and 104.3, respectively. In fact, excluding Elliot, no other running back has averaged even 100 yards from scrimmage per game; LeSean McCoy is second to Bell at 99.9 yards per game.

Bell is not just a yards from scrimmage star, however. As of yesterday, he was also leading the NFL in rushing yards, Bell is at 1,105 rushing yards, ahead of Kareem Hunt (1,046), Todd Gurley (1,035), Jordan Howard (1,032), and McCoy (1,007). Last night, Hunt rushed for 155 yards in a win over the Chargers, so he is now ahead of Bell (the Steelers play the Patriots today). Elliott is at 97.9 rushing yards per game, a bit ahead of Bell (85.0), but Elliott has missed five (soon to be six) games due to suspension.

Assuming Bell does go on to win the rushing crown, he may in fact join a pretty rare group: leading the NFL in rushing yards despite averaging fewer than 4.0 yards per carry. Right now, Bell is at 3.90 yards per carry, and there’s a good chance his YPC either improves or if it doesn’t, he doesn’t wind up winning the rushing crown. But if he does win the rushing title, Bell would have the lowest yards per carry average of any rushing champion since Football Perspective favorite Eddie Price back in 1951.

The table below shows the rushing yards leader in each season in the NFL, AFL, and AAFC since 1932.

Running Back	Year	Team	Lg	Rush	Yards	YPC
Whizzer White	1940	DET	NFL	146	514	3.52
Doug Russell	1935	CRD	NFL	140	499	3.56
Eddie Price	1951	NYG	NFL	271	971	3.58
Whizzer White	1938	PIT	NFL	152	567	3.73
Bill Paschal	1944	NYG	NFL	196	737	3.76
Bill Paschal	1943	NYG	NFL	147	572	3.89
Cliff Battles	1932	BOS	NFL	148	576	3.89
Floyd Little	1971	DEN	NFL	284	1133	3.99
Christian Okoye	1989	KAN	NFL	370	1480	4.00
Tuffy Leemans	1936	NYG	NFL	206	830	4.03
Cliff Battles	1937	WAS	NFL	216	874	4.05
Bill Dudley	1946	PIT	NFL	146	604	4.14
Edgerrin James	1999	IND	NFL	369	1553	4.21
Charles White	1987	RAM	NFL	324	1374	4.24
Cookie Gilchrist	1964	BUF	AFL	230	981	4.27
Eric Dickerson	1988	IND	NFL	388	1659	4.28
Emmitt Smith	1991	DAL	NFL	365	1563	4.28
O.J. Simpson	1972	BUF	NFL	292	1251	4.28
Bill Dudley	1942	PIT	NFL	162	696	4.30
Paul Robinson	1968	CIN	AFL	238	1023	4.30
Steve Van Buren	1949	PHI	NFL	263	1146	4.36
Gale Sayers	1969	CHI	NFL	236	1032	4.37
Pug Manders	1941	BKN	NFL	111	486	4.38
Edgerrin James	2000	IND	NFL	387	1709	4.42
George Rogers	1981	NOR	NFL	378	1674	4.43
Eric Dickerson	1986	RAM	NFL	404	1821	4.51
Alan Ameche	1955	BAL	NFL	213	961	4.51
Jim Nance	1967	BOS	AFL	269	1216	4.52
Adrian Peterson	2015	MIN	NFL	327	1485	4.54
Curtis Martin	2004	NYJ	NFL	371	1697	4.57
Jim Brown	1959	CLE	NFL	290	1329	4.58
Emmitt Smith	1992	DAL	NFL	373	1713	4.59
Earl Campbell	1979	HOU	NFL	368	1697	4.61
Jim Brown	1961	CLE	NFL	305	1408	4.62
Marcus Allen	1985	RAI	NFL	380	1759	4.63
Eric Dickerson	1983	RAM	NFL	390	1808	4.64
Steve Van Buren	1947	PHI	NFL	217	1008	4.65
Jim Brown	1957	CLE	NFL	202	942	4.66
Jim Musick	1933	BOS	NFL	173	809	4.68
LaDainian Tomlinson	2007	SDG	NFL	315	1474	4.68
Maurice Jones-Drew	2011	JAX	NFL	343	1606	4.68
Steve Van Buren	1948	PHI	NFL	201	945	4.70
Emmitt Smith	1995	DAL	NFL	377	1773	4.70
DeMarco Murray	2014	DAL	NFL	392	1845	4.71
Billy Cannon	1961	HOU	AFL	200	948	4.74
Larry Brown	1970	WAS	NFL	237	1125	4.75
Priest Holmes	2001	KAN	NFL	327	1555	4.76
Dickie Post	1969	SDG	AFL	182	873	4.80
Earl Campbell	1978	HOU	NFL	302	1450	4.80
Rick Casares	1956	CHI	NFL	234	1126	4.81
Ricky Williams	2002	MIA	NFL	383	1853	4.84
Adrian Peterson	2008	MIN	NFL	363	1760	4.85
Jim Nance	1966	BOS	AFL	299	1458	4.88
Arian Foster	2010	HOU	NFL	327	1616	4.94
Leroy Kelly	1968	CLE	NFL	248	1239	5.00
Paul Lowe	1965	SDG	AFL	222	1121	5.05
Barry Sanders	1996	DET	NFL	307	1553	5.06
Spec Sanders	1946	NYY	AAFC	140	709	5.06
Ezekiel Elliott	2016	DAL	NFL	322	1631	5.07
Shaun Alexander	2005	SEA	NFL	370	1880	5.08
Clem Daniels	1963	OAK	AFL	215	1099	5.11
Barry Sanders	1990	DET	NFL	255	1304	5.11
LeSean McCoy	2013	PHI	NFL	314	1607	5.12
Cookie Gilchrist	1962	BUF	AFL	214	1096	5.12
Terrell Davis	1998	DEN	NFL	392	2008	5.12
Leroy Kelly	1967	CLE	NFL	235	1205	5.13
Jim Brown	1964	CLE	NFL	280	1446	5.16
O.J. Simpson	1976	BUF	NFL	290	1503	5.18
Earl Campbell	1980	HOU	NFL	373	1934	5.18
Freeman McNeil	1982	NYJ	NFL	151	786	5.21
LaDainian Tomlinson	2006	SDG	NFL	348	1815	5.22
Emmitt Smith	1993	DAL	NFL	283	1486	5.25
Joe Perry	1953	SFO	NFL	192	1018	5.30
Jamal Lewis	2003	BAL	NFL	387	2066	5.34
Jim Brown	1965	CLE	NFL	289	1544	5.34
Otis Armstrong	1974	DEN	NFL	263	1407	5.35
Gale Sayers	1966	CHI	NFL	229	1231	5.38
Jim Taylor	1962	GNB	NFL	272	1474	5.42
Walter Payton	1977	CHI	NFL	339	1852	5.46
O.J. Simpson	1975	BUF	NFL	329	1817	5.52
Eric Dickerson	1984	RAM	NFL	379	2105	5.55
Chris Johnson	2009	TEN	NFL	358	2006	5.60
Abner Haynes	1960	DTX	AFL	156	875	5.61
Barry Sanders	1994	DET	NFL	331	1883	5.69
Dan Towler	1952	RAM	NFL	156	894	5.73
Bill Osmanski	1939	CHI	NFL	121	699	5.78
Marion Motley	1950	CLE	NFL	140	810	5.79
Steve Van Buren	1945	PHI	NFL	143	832	5.82
Jim Brown	1960	CLE	NFL	215	1257	5.85
Jim Brown	1958	CLE	NFL	257	1527	5.94
Adrian Peterson	2012	MIN	NFL	348	2097	6.03
O.J. Simpson	1973	BUF	NFL	332	2003	6.03
Joe Perry	1954	SFO	NFL	173	1049	6.06
Barry Sanders	1997	DET	NFL	335	2053	6.13
Marion Motley	1948	CLE	AAFC	157	964	6.14
Spec Sanders	1947	NYY	AAFC	231	1432	6.20
Jim Brown	1963	CLE	NFL	291	1863	6.40
Joe Perry	1949	SFO	AAFC	115	783	6.81
Beattie Feathers	1934	CHI	NFL	119	1004	8.44

In the last 20 years, Edgerrin James has the two lowest YPC averages of any rushing leader. Before James, the lowest YPC average belongs to Christian Okoye, who averaged exactly 4.00 yards per carry in 1989. Okoye narrowly avoided being one of just two running backs since the AFL-NFL merger to lead the NFL in rushing with a sub-4.00 YPC average. That lone honor therefore belongs to Floyd Little, who averaged 3.99 YPC in 1971.

Tagged as: Le’Veon Bell

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538: Le’Veon Bell’s Historic Performance

by Chase Stuart on December 12, 2016

in Uncategorized

Breaking news: Le’Veon Bell is really, really good. In terms of yards from scrimmage, he had a top-10 performance on Sunday, which has catapulted him to a top-2 season, and into a top-1 career. Today at 538:

Bell’s average of 161.6 yards from scrimmage isn’t remarkable for 2016 alone. If it were to stand through the end of the regular season, Bell’s 2016 performance would rank as the second-highest single-season average since 1932.

…

This may be Bell’s best season, but he has been a yards from scrimmage monster for much of his career. In 45 career games, Bell has 3,830 rushing yards (85.1 per game) and 1,952 receiving yards (43.4 per game). That translates to 128.5 yards from scrimmage per game for his career, which would be the highest career average since 1932.

You can read the full article here.

Tagged as: 538, Le’Veon Bell, Steelers, Yards From Scrimmage

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