Mike Tomlin made no bones about the fact that the Steelers needed to beef up the talent they had at running back and tonight in the 2nd round of the 2013 NFL Draft he made good on his promise.
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Michgan State’s Le’Veon Bell in the second round of the draft. Weighing in at 230 and standing 6-1, Bell runs a 4.57 in the forty and proved to be a durable back at Michagn State, carrying the offense there by running the ball 382 times.
Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley immediately compared him to Eddie George. Speaking with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette, Bell described himself this way:
I’m a balanced runner . . . I can go in there and get tough yardage and short yardage. A lot of people look at me like, ‘He’s just a short-yardage back.’ But I don’t look at myself like that. I can get to the outside and beat you with speed. I can catch the ball out of the backfield. I can pass protect. I can play special teams.
That’s a biased assessment, but as Mike Tomlin reminds us, you are what you put on tape (available as of 4/17/13):
Bell’s athleticism, versatility and outside speed certainly are in evidence and his style looks to complement that of that Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman. Or will we soon say that Redman’s and Dwyer’s style complements that of Le’Veon Bell?
That question will be decided later in July under the hot summer sun at St. Vincent’s in Latrobe.
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