In the latest segment of Inside the Huddle, John Clayton of ESPN said that the Pittsburgh Steelers consider running back Le\’Veon Bell to be the next Matt Forte, who currently plays for the Chicago Bears.
“John Elway believes he may have drafted the next Terrell Davis with his selection of Montee Ball in the second round, but the Steelers think that they have the next version of Matt Forte, and their happy about it,” said Clayton.
“Le\’Veon Bell, the Steelers second round choice, displayed the potential of being a thousand yard runner during last weeks mini camp and he also showed the hands of a fifty plus reception back, making him an all-purpose option for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.”
Bell measured in at that combine back in February at 6013, 230 pounds and, according to Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, he showed up at rookie camp last weekend at 234. Forte, however, was considerably lighter when he measured in at 6013, 217 pounds at the 2008 combine.
In his first five seasons in the league, Forte has rushed for 5,327 yards and 26 touchdowns on 1,262 attempts. In addition to that, the Tulane product has also registered 2,325 yards receiving and another nine touchdowns on 267 receptions.
Forte has had his injury concerns the last two seasons, however. In 2011 he missed time late in the season due to a sprained knee and in 2012, even though he only missed one game, he missed a lot of playing and practice time due to an ankle injury.
This is not the first time that we have heard people compare Bell to Forte as quite a few scouts have done the very same thing all offseason. Pouncey probably doesn\’t care who he is compared to, as he said on Thursday that he just thinks Bell is going to be exceptional in the Steelers zone blocking scheme.
The Steelers bypassed Alabama running back Eddie Lacy in the second round to select Bell, who they reportedly put through a private workout prior to the draft. Lacy\’s toe fusion surgery reportedly was enough of a medical red flag to the Steelers to avoid him, according to post draft reports. As I pointed out following the draft, Bell and Lacy will forever be measured against one another for the rest of their careers by Steelers fans as a result of that decision.
