Steelers @ Browns: Fantasy Outlook

The Steelers found a way to win last week. Fantasy output for some of their stars was lower than in previous weeks. Now, we look at their matchup this week in Cleveland against the Browns. Specifically, I will be looking at Le’Veon Bell.

Bell has drawn a lot of praise so far this year, and deservedly so. Bell has racked up five consecutive games with over one hundred yards from scrimmage. He is a fluid and patient back, and is building an impressive start to his career.

My guess is that many fantasy owners that drafted Bell are happy that they did so. It is clear that he is a focal part of the offense in Pittsburgh. Here is the issue: Bell just cannot find the end zone.

He has just one touchdown on one hundred eleven touches. For some comparison, the fantasy back of all fantasy backs, Ladanian Tomlinson, scored once every thirteen touches in his record-setting 2006 campaign.

I understand that offenses have changed and that Tomlinson was a special player at the peak of his career, but in order to be considered a truly elite fantasy player—one worthy of Bell’s average draft position—the Steelers’ featured back needs to get into the end zone.

Some of the cause for the drought has to do with play calling and some of it has to do with execution. Last week, the Steelers were passing a lot in the red zone. This led them to score ten points against a defense that had allowed a total of one hundred thirty-eight points in their previous four games.

Perhaps the answer is for them to run the ball more, as they did in their best offensive outings against Carolina and Cleveland. Naturally, if the Steelers adopt this method, we could expect Le’Veon Bell to be more involved in the red zone game as well.

In his second year, Bell is averaging almost two yards more per carry, has already matched his 2013 total of rushes over twenty yards, and has doubled his 2013 total of one hundred yard games. He seems more patient, but more explosive. The only area that does not seem improved is scoring.

A statistic of note is that Bell has gone four straight contests without scoring. In 2013, he never went more than two games without scoring.

Luckily for the former Michigan State Spartan, his last score came against this week’s opponent, the Cleveland Browns, in the first week of the season.

Bell played very well against the Browns in the first matchup, and got plenty of Steelers fans and fantasy owners excited about his 2014 season. Cleveland has been very poor against the run and Bell has had twenty or more carry in all three of his games against them.

Hopefully, Le’Veon Bell can get back into the end zone against the Cleveland Browns and continue to do so throughout the season. The Steelers need to become a more efficient scoring team, and Bell can help them do that.