Chiefs: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Chiefs: For Whom the Bell Tolls – While many may want to say there is a parallel between the signing of Le’Veon Bell this year and the signing of LeSean McCoy last year, nothing could be further from the truth. McCoy was playing on the last hole of the back nine career and is now 32 years old, which, is one-thousand RB dog years. [Let me emphasize the “Dog Years” because he fumbled the ball too much last year to Andy’s liking, which kept him from the field once Damien Williams returned.] In the meantime Le’Veon Bell is is 28 years old, in his prime, and is well rested having played in only 17 games since the 2017 season. Because some may have unrealistic expectations for Bell, let’s take a look at what he is, and what he isn’t.

Shifty and Nifty, But Not Furiously Fast

In late January of 2018, Dave Bryan of, Steeler Depot, wrote about Bell’s last season in Pittsburgh. He said,

“By now, you should already know that Bell isn’t a running back that’s likely to register many explosive runs of 20 yards or more. He had just 3 such runs during the 2017 regular season.“

So, we should not expect Le’Veon Bell to look like Jamaal Charles by any sensible comparison. We may get to witness more breakaway runs from Clyde Edwards-Helaire than we will Bell. On the other hand, the days of seeing a breakaway RB streaming out of the Chiefs backfield may be long gone as both Bell and CEH ran a 40 yard dash in the exact same time: 4.60 seconds. While that may sound like a bit of a downer for fans of the zippy and zoomy Chiefs like Tyreek Hill or Mecole Hardman, the inverse is true as well: neither CEH or Bell is going to generate a bunch of negative yardage plays. Dave Bryan goes on about Le’Veon Bell:

“If there’s one thing that Bell is still relatively solid at it’s his ability not to produce zero yardage or less gains on runs.” 

So, while we shouldn’t expect Bell to produce a bunch of long runs, we should be able to see him rip up the middle of the field with his surgical moves, using his blockers, and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Bell Will “Catch On” Fast

One glaring stat that jumped out at me when going over his numbers from 2017 was that he had 1,946 yards from scrimmage and 655 of those were receiving yards. While I’m always glad to see Andy Reid get an early Christmas gift… in the form of Bell’s hands… I don’t want to take away from the fact that Bell had more carries in 2017 than any other back: 321. If you’re old enough to have visions of Larry Johnson still dancing in your head, you may remember when LJ had too many carries one year (416), leading the league in that department, and his career took a sharp downturn after that.

Sharing is Caring

What may save the day for Bell, is that he’s not coming to K.C. with an intention of becoming the feature back. Sharing carries with Clyde Edwards-Helaire should help prolong both mean’s careers and keep them fresh, useful, productive, and exciting. Bell is plenty aware that Clyde Edwards-Helaire is RB1 and that he’ll have to “fit into” this high powered offense that already has loads of skilled players who need and deserve the ball. Bell told Herbie Teope: “It’s going to be fun, there’s going to be a lot of weapons.” That’s important to note because when Bell was in Pittsburgh, he had complained about having to share carries. I doubt he’ll be complaining now. Andy Reid even hinted that CEH and Le’Veon Bell had talked prior to the trade so they’re already familiar with each other,

“I think they’ve actually talked before anything ever happened, so there was a little communication there I think took place. So, I think that’s healthy.”

In the plus department, CEH can’t wait to learn from Bell. And as to Bell’s attitude history: although this could turn out to be problematic if the Chiefs don’t continue winning, no one is doubting that the Chiefs will continue winning. I trust everyone else on the roster to maintain a positive attitude if the Chiefs season goes south. Vahe Gregorian posted a piece for the K.C. Star in which he shares a nice quote about someone significant in Bell’s life:

“It will definitely be a different Le’Veon than what you saw in New York,” said Donis Toler Jr., a father figure to Bell. “I’ll be shocked if it’s not. Plus with Coach Reid and that cast and crew, he’ll have no choice but to conform.”

Let’s hope the Chiefs don’t have to find out what happens with Bell’s “tude” if the season takes a turn for the worse.

Ordering a Stiff One

While reviewing tape on Le’Veon Bell, I was reminded of what a great stiff arm move he has. I still have nightmares of him stiff arming a Chiefs defender and maybe that’s why I was at first reticent about Bell coming to K.C.:

While I prefer to not get into a commentary on the state of the N.Y. Jets, they appear to be headed in the wrong direction in many ways. In ten days the Chiefs will be hosting those Jets (on 11/1/2020) and you can be sure Andy Reid will want to make all the right moves when it comes to fitting Le’Veon Bell into the offense and giving him a chance to show why they were cray cray to release him. Although, the situation in N.Y. had deteriorated to the point that, and what Bell wanted was his release by then anyway.

Bell was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2013 out of Michigan State, and was the 48th pick overall. His style of running starts by, waiting on his blockers, as well as for the LBs to commit one way or the other as they attempt to come around his offensive linemen, then he puts his foot in the ground heading the opposite direction and takes as many yards as he possibly can. At 6-foot-1, and 225 lbs., he’ll be a real change up from Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s running style. Bell uses his chiseled body to leverage and tilt against defenders to gain an advantage. His first step gets him nearly to his top end speed and he’s a great receiver, having registered seasons where his yards through the air have included: 854 (2014), 616 (2016), and 655 (2017). Bell has averaged 40 receiving yards per game over the course of his career (including his time in N.Y.). In 2019, Bell had 66 catches, 78 targets, two drops, 440 YAC, 20 first downs, one touchdown. Here are a few clips of Le’Veon Bell’s receiving ability:

While I don’t see Le’Veon Bell as being a great goal line option, he may certainly be better than other RBs in the K.C. stable. Here’s Bell scoring off the Steelers Wildcat formation against the Chargers in 2015 for a game winner:

Who knows if the Le’Veon Bell experiment will become another coup for Brett Veach. Most of his moves have proven excellent (except Anthony Hitchens… I know!). Bell says the opportunity to play for Andy Reid is “magnificent.” It seems to be a marriage made in heaven. We’ll see. Let me know what you think. In the meantime, here’s Brett Kollmann in his piece called, “Le’Veon Bell: The Art of Patience,” in which he compares Le’Veon Bell to Muhammad Ali (you know, the whole, “Float like a butterfly” thingy) and also shares how teams can defeat the skills Bell possesses:

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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