Despite being suspended for the first two games of the 2015 NFL season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell is viewed by many as a possible No. 1-overall fantasy football selection. This is due in large part to the fact that Bell, the Steelers second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, managed 1,361-yards rushing on 290 carries and added a whopping 83 receptions for 854-yards this past season. In short, he was the most electrifying offensive weapon for a Steelers team that also just so happens to boast a receiver in Antonio Brown who led the entire league in receiving last year. While those totals may cause a little laurel-resting for most, Bell is expecting even bigger things for himself in 2015.
"I watch myself now and I look at last year like I wasn't really quick," Bell said recently, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. "Feels like it was [slow motion]. I'm a lot quicker, a lot more explosive now."
While Bell has provided a high-impact element to the Steelers rushing attack already, it's consistency the team is searching for from their run game. Despite Bell's rushing totals, the Steelers finished ranked just 16th in the league in rushing. The final three games of the 2014 regular season the Steelers managed totals of just 45, 68 and 29 yards on the ground.
"We want to do better in a week-in and week-out basis, not have a huge day and then an average day," Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak said, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "You try to balance it. You hope to have some big days. They will come as you go through the season. I think it's us being more efficient in what we do every Sunday."
To that end, Bell, who, per Fowler, said he compared his 2014 tape to tape of himself during this preseason, believes he can take his game up yet another notch this year thanks to some dropped weight and increased quickness.
"A lot of people talk about the season I had last year. They call it a breakout season, but I don't look at it like that," Bell said. "I look at it as me just getting started. ... I still feel like I can do a lot of things better. Last year wasn't even close to me being my best."
