Lev Bell continues in his hold out as Week 1 of NFL football has officially commenced. Steelers GM announced his disappointment this week that Bell didn’t show for their first regular season practice, and his teammates do not seem to be immune to the drama of the situation either. Certainly a distraction headed into week one, the team continues their preparations without their dynamic RB.
In 2017, Pittsburgh came in 3rd when it came to total yards on the season and ranked 3rd in total passing yards. The drop off comes in total rushing yards - despite handing Bell the rock on 321 attempts, Pittsburgh still ranked 20th in total rushing yards. Not exactly surprising when Pittsburgh ended their season ranked 16th in total rushing attempts, but still, when you’ve got a guy who can slither through the lines of scrimmage like Bell, you might be left wanting more.
When looking at the team splits with and without Bell, we get an interesting story. The tilt towards the passing game is obvious without him, with passing attempts increasing from an average of 25.33 per game up to 40.64. Despite a drop in average rushing yards without Bell, the rushing touchdown rate actually jumped from 0.61 TD’s per game up to 1.14 per game. He’s a generational player who shows unprecedented receiving skills, but if the Steelers are looking at the stats, that might account for their hesitancy to cut him that check - especially if they feel they’ve got another viable option to take lead.
ProFootball Focus has the Steelers offensive line ranked at #4 this season, and with second year RB James Conner receiving the valuable first team reps, you have to wonder what he might be able to do with those touches in real NFL action. They only gave him 32 attempts last season, but managed a modest 4.5 yards/carry. He’s looked clean in the pre-season and it was clear in Bell’s absence that he was the first man up. He’s drawn praise in the progress he’s made coming off injury and entering his sophomore season, so perhaps this is the breakout year for young Conner, if Bell doesn’t hit the ground running.
Bell has yet to show, and during an interview with Sirius XM today, his agent gave little insight as to when we could expect him. He did hint at hopes of preserving his body for free agency next year, so it looks like we can expect to wait awhile longer.
James Conner, strap up.
