Throughout his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Le’Veon Bell was arguably the best running back in the NFL, and easily the best dual-threat back at the time.
He was a key cog in the Killer B’s offense for the Steelers, which reached new heights during its run in the mid-2010s. Though his time in the NFL fizzled out after a poorly advised contract dispute with the Steelers that saw him sit out the entire 2018 season, his impact on the game is lasting, at least according to one former defensive back.
On the Pat McAfee Show Monday afternoon while discussing the franchise tag option for Bengals’ wide receiver Tee Higgins, the conversation shifted to Bell, and former Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots defensive back Darius Butler spoke highly of Bell.
“One of one,” Butler said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “At his peak, he was all-time. His patience, power, speed, then he can go out and be like a legit, probably, wide receiver two for a lot of people at his prime? And to your point, it did start with him. You know how defensive coordinators are, you know how defenses say, ‘Hey, you gotta stop the run first.’ And we still, we had a plan for 84 [Antonio Brown], but you know, everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. And 84 was special as well, especially when you had seven [Ben Roethlisberger] throwing the ball.”
Bell was a phenomenal runner, one who thrived with his patient approach behind a great offensive line. He helped the Steelers’ Killer B offenses have some serious balance overall.
In five seasons with the Steelers, Bell earned two Offensive Player of the Year votes, earned two first-team All-Pro honors and one second-team All-Pro honor. He also received some Comeback Player of the Year votes. On top of all that, Bell made three trips to the Pro Bowl during his five seasons in the Steel City.
In three of those five seasons when he was healthy, Bell rushed for more than 1,000 yards, gaining 1,361 yards and eight touchdowns in 2014, 1,268 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in 2016, and then 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns in 2017, his final season in Pittsburgh.
Not only was Bell as fantastic running back with the football on the ground, he was a game-changer as a receiver out of the backfield. He finished his career in Pittsburgh with 312 receptions for 2,660 yards and seven touchdowns, roughly 63 catches, 532 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per season through the air.
His dominance and overall skill set as a receiver out of the backfield led to him wanting to be paid like a star running back and a WR2. That led to the contract dispute with the Steelers, accelerating his exit from the Steel City.
In his two best seasons in Pittsburgh, Bell hauled in 83 and 85 receptions for 854 and 655 yards respectively, and hauled in five touchdowns combined those two years.
Bell was a handful for defenses, one who kept defensive coordinators up at night, even with weapons like Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller and more catching passes from future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. That speaks to how great Bell was at his peak.
“Do you remember how Chuck [Pagano] and [Greg] Manusky and everybody used to talk about Lev Bell whenever we [prepared for the Steelers]? Now, granted how much you guys seemingly talked about Lev Bell, kind of distracted you guys from, you know, the other Killer Bs out there,” McAfee said of Bell and the Steelers. “Martavis, I think, went for 750 or so. I mean, Ben Roethlisberger threw for an actual thousand yards in one game against us. But the way Lev Bell was described in those team meetings…[definitely] one of one.”
