Future potential replacements for Le’Veon Bell
There’s a lot of chatter about the future of Le’Veon Bell with the Pittsburgh Steelers. For one, I’m not a firm believer that he’s going anywhere. I don’t believe he’ll be traded, and just because he’s playing under the franchise tag this season doesn’t mean he’ll be elsewhere in 2018.
Bell could, in fact, be tagged once again next year, which means the Steelers still have at least two more seasons with their star player in the backfield. However, let’s play a little bit of devil’s advocate and speculate what Pittsburgh’s running back depth chart might look like without Bell.
James Conner
So many people are quick to assume that University of Pittsburgh standout James Conner will take over for Le’Veon Bell as the Steelers starter.
I’ve spoken with several who think it could happen this year!
Let’s pump the brakes on that idea, at least momentarily. Conner is a talented running back but has his own injury history to be concerned with. It’s also important to note that the running back position was heavily devalued with Bell was drafted back in 2013. Bell was the second back taken in the entire draft, with the Steelers 48th overall selection in the second round. That’s 11 picks following the first back who was taken.
Running backs fell into the second round in 2014 as well, before Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, and Christian McCaffrey broke the mold in subsequent years. Therefore, a talent like Bell isn’t likely to fall as far in the draft as he did back in 2013.
Fast forward to James Conner and the 2017 NFL Draft. Conner was the 8th back taken, deep into the third round. Now, I understand that teams pass on eventual superstars all of the time. We know the stories of players like Tom Brady and Antonio Brown, but that’s more an exception than the rule.
This will be Conner’s rookie year in the NFL, and he will be sitting behind at least Le’Veon Bell on the depth chart. When you take into consideration that Mike Tomlin doesn’t play rookies right away, and that DeAngelo Williams barely saw the field when Bell was healthy, Conner’s role could be few and far between in 2017.
In fact, he might not even be the backup this season.
Knile Davis
The backup role could belong to former Kansas City Chief running back Knile Davis, whom Steelers coaches are said to be incredibly impressed with. Davis offers a versatile skill set, which includes returning kickoffs. Most analysts have already written him off as competing for the special teams spot, but there’s no reason to sleep on his equally soft hands and veteran experience.
If anything, Davis will be part of the same bottleneck DeAngelo Williams was. Even if he’s the backup to Bell on the depth chart, it doesn’t mean he’ll see the field much. It appears he’s more of a veteran brought in as insurance for Bell, and to supplement Conner’s growth.
Since Davis is only signed to a one-year deal, there’s little expectation that he’ll be around beyond 2017; if he were to make the cut this season. Therefore, the logical choice for Bell’s future replacement probably isn’t on the team yet.
2018/2019 Draft Pick
How many immediate needs do the Steelers truly have following the 2017 season? They didn’t have a lot in 2016 and filled most of their glaring holes via frugal free agency additions and draft picks. Should those moves work out, and there are no major departures from the team, Pittsburgh may have the freedom to draft the best player available in an upcoming draft; much like they did in this year’s second round when they took another wide receiver, JuJu Smith-Schuster, who joins a crowded roster group.
If we think the Steelers will be as good as they’ve been in recent years, then we should expect them to draft late in each round by making a deep playoff or Super Bowl run. This would put them in prime position to grab one of the top backs with one of their early round picks. Of course, this is speculating that Bell won’t work out a long-term deal, or that James Conner is a total bust. There are so many factors in this guesswork, that it’s all I can tell you it is: a guess.
But it’s a solid one at that. Bell will have to prove he remains on the field and out of trouble in order to secure a longer deal in 2018. If the Steelers pass entirely on his impending $14 million-plus franchise tag price, taking another running back in the 2018 NFL Draft won’t be out of the question. If they exercise their option to tag him once more, and there’s no other long term negotiations, then Bell would become a free agent in 2019. That would give Pittsburgh one-to-two draft classes to decide on how they should approach the situation. The team will know in advance if they’ll keep Bell, and have plenty of time to prepare in drafting his successor.
