NFL
Is James Conner Stealing Le’Veon Bell’s Leverage?
James Conner has certainly stepped up in Le’Veon Bell’s absence this season ranking in the top ten running backs for rushing yards and touchdowns this year. Is James Conner’s great start to this season robbing Le’Veon Bell’s leverage with the Pittsburgh Steelers?
The short answer to this question is yes, but let us take a deeper dive into why Conner is hurting Bell’s stock.
Bell vs. Conner: The Running Backs
The biggest argument to be made for this is James Conner’s ability to match Le’Veon Bell’s production from last season. Through the first five games, last season Bell recorded 102 rushes 371 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Bell was definitely a force in this offense leading the team in touches and yards through those five games. Not only has Conner matched Bell’s production, but he has also surpassed it. Throughout the first five games, this season James Conner has 84 rushes 342 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
Bell with 18 more rushes only managed to outrush Conner by 29 yards while having two fewer touchdowns. One of Bell’s most significant flaws is his lack of explosive plays, only gaining more than 20+ yards on three runs last season. Running back James Conner has already tied Bell’s mark with three 20+ yard runs this season.
Bell vs. Conner: The Receivers
One of the biggest reasons Bell is holding out is because he wants to be paid like a play-maker, not just a running back. Although Bell is one of the best receiving backs in the league, James Conner is proving to be better. Through five games last season Bell had 27 receptions for 144 receiving yards and 0 touchdowns.
Conner has certainly held his own recording 22 receptions 239 yards and 0 touchdowns. Conner is averaging double Bell’s yard per reception, beating him with 10.9 compared to Bell’s 5.3. All of last season Bell only registered five receptions of 20 yards or longer whereas Conner is already at three playing in ten fewer games.
Team Support
Although Bell will eventually be welcomed back, he will have to deal with some disgruntled teammates. Most notably his offensive lineman, who blasted him publicly when he did not report Week 1. Two veteran leaders Ramon Foster and Maurkice Pouncey held nothing back when it was clear Bell had no intention of showing up.
Steelers teammates not happy with Le’Veon Bell no show, led by vet G Ramon Foster, their player rep:
“What do you do? here’s a guy who doesn’t give a damn, I guess so we’ll treatit as such. I just hate it came to this. “— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) September 5, 2018
Pouncey on Bell–"Honestly it's a little selfish. I'm kinda pissed right now. It sucks that he's not here. we'll move on as a team. It doesn't look like he'll be in the game plan at this point. Conner looks great. We'll worry about him in week 2."
— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) September 5, 2018
With Bell losing their trust, and Conner stepping up big it’s not out of the question for Conner to assume the starting role when Bell returns. One of the most important opinions on the offensive side of the ball is Ben Roethlisberger, and he made it known he does not want Conner’s role to decrease when Bell returns.
Ben says he’ll push for James Conner to get as much playing time as possible when and if Le’Veon Bell returns. #Steelers
— Steelers Depot (@Steelersdepot) October 9, 2018
What Leverage Does Bell Have?
To start the season, it appeared as if Bell had all of the leverage by holding out. Now that plan appears to have backfired as Bell’s backup has outplayed him to this point. Conner has not only put up gaudy numbers, but he is showing that Pittsburgh can be an offensive juggernaut without Bell in the lineup.
Will Conner’s success hurt Bell’s chances at landing a big contract next offseason? One could argue if Bell is truly worth what he is asking, it would be harder to replace him. With Conner showing out this season, Bell may lose big time, decreasing his value to the Steelers and possibly being devalued by other teams around the league.
It will be interesting to see how Bell’s return goes down, but the longer he holds out, the more it appears Conner will keep his job.
Photo Credit
Featured Image courtesy of Nazrul Islam
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