The Steelers Drafted Bell To Be Their Starter

[SteelBucks]

I'd hope he would start. If he can't beat out Redman and Dwyer, we have a serious problem.

[hawaiiansteel]

GM Kevin Colbert says the Steelers got the running back they wanted in draft: ‘In Le'Veon we thought we had a complete package’

Submitted by 60 Max Power O Staff on May 8, 2013



When you go back and think about the classic Pittsburgh running game, it’s bruising, physical, power football.

There is no finesse to it, and it isn’t rocket science, just move people out of the way.

GM Kevin Colber and coach Mike Tomlin dually felt their power running game was quickly becoming a game of flag football.

Former running back Rashard Mendenhall just didn’t show the type of toughness to ground out those extra chunks of yards.

Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman just aren’t talented enough to be lead backs and carry the ball 20+ times.

While addressing the linebacker corps was their top priority, running back ran a close second.

You can second guess a lot of things about the Steelers as they reload, but drafting good isn’t one of them and the selection of Levon Bell is an indication they are going back to smash mouth football.

Bell listed at 240 pound is a hard downhill runner who brings defenders along for the ride, and he’s had major production at the college level.

However, what attracted him most to the Steelers is that his style of running is tailor made for the NFL.

He had 1,700 yards last year and close to 900 of those yards were yards after contact," Colbert said, via Yahoo Sports. "It indicates the ability to make NFL-type runs because the holes in the NFL aren't going to be the same as they are in college.

"So you saw him make a lot of what we thought were NFL-type runs."

"Even if he had a one-yard hole that was blocked, once he made contact, he always seemed to fall forward for four more," Colbert said of the rookie's days at Michigan State.

"That was intriguing. His ability to catch and his ability to block were also intriguing."

"In Le'Veon we thought we had a complete package. There were several other backs that we liked as well, but not as well as Le'Veon."

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