LeVeon Bell

[IronDog]

I thought I saw something flash on some notification I get that we just signed Mr. Bell. This is the Ex-Steeler RB that held out for a year, right? If memory serves, this guy's old man made a friggin circus around him during that time. Do we really want that kinda crap on top of the circus that is AB...also from that same Steelers team? God help us, I hope that doesn't happen. I understand we are left with looking into the bottom of the barrel these days. Heavy sigh.

[Snake]

This year’s Shady.

[King Bootz]

If we're lucky he's not even active on gameday

[ATrain]

If he can pass block and catch checkdowns then it's whatever. Sure. cool. I guess. Fuck these injuries and fuck the end of this season.

[mdb1958]

This year’s Shady.

Pre ins
Post ins

[ATrain]

Zero expectations.

Will it be his calf or hamstring that he injures in his first game as a Buc? Or maybe mix it up with an ankle?

[Rocker]

I'm optimistic. If he's maintained his conditioning, he immediately splits carries with ROJO or even takes it outright. If he's close to game shape, he's still many times better than Vaughn as the 3RB. If he's out of shape, he can fuck right off.

[13F11B]

Zero expectations.

Will it be his calf or hamstring that he injures in his first game as a Buc? Or maybe mix it up with an ankle?

Whatever it is will be in the first practice.

[MJW]

If we're lucky he's not even active on gameday

You mean this gameday, or any of them?

Right now our only other healthy backs are Rojo and Vaughn (you can count Barner and Darwin Thompson, I guess, but I don't.) I seriously doubt Vaughn has a ton of goodwill at this point. Rojo is a skilled runner but he's poor in the other aspects of the position, where Bell excels.

Depending on how he looks in practice, I expect him active on Sunday and thereafter, if only to block and run basic routes on 3rd down. It's not like the guy is out of shape. He was playing in the NFL in October. Hell, he's seen the field more recently than AB has.

[King Bootz]

If we're lucky he's not even active on gameday

You mean this gameday, or any of them?

Right now our only other healthy backs are Rojo and Vaughn (you can count Barner and Darwin Thompson, I guess, but I don't.) I seriously doubt Vaughn has a ton of goodwill at this point. Rojo is a skilled runner but he's poor in the other aspects of the position, where Bell excels.

Depending on how he looks in practice, I expect him active on Sunday and thereafter, if only to block and run basic routes on 3rd down. It's not like the guy is out of shape. He was playing in the NFL in October. Hell, he's seen the field more recently than AB has.

Dear God. Don't turn this into yet another one of your "THIS one will work" glass all the way full takes. Bell lasted 5 games with a depleted Ravens RB room. He saw the field alright and it's tape no one will be proud of seeing.

I'm expecting him to give us about as much as Shady gave us last year.

[IronDog]

If he can protect and catch the ball, he'll be a plus, I guess.

[IronDog]

If he can protect and catch the ball, he'll be a plus, I guess. And as long as he doesn't transition to boxing on the field....

[Dread]

If he can protect and catch the ball, he'll be a plus, I guess.

I think this was the motivation for the move. Both Rojo and Vaughn have the same weak area in regards to catching the ball out of the backfield and pass protection.

To be charitable to Leveon Bell, he was the best RB in the NFL in those areas.

That said he couldn't earn reps for RB desperate teams like the Chiefs and Ravens, and wasn't great with the Jets.

I agree with the Bootz approach of zero expectations from Bell. Hopefully Rojo and Vaughn step up now that they know they're being relied upon and will see a significant increase in touches.

But if Rojo or Vaughn continue to be a liability in passpro or catching the ball I could imagine Leveon will get an opportunity on 3rd down and in the hurry up/2min offense.

Bell can probably still catch and block better in his sleep. He just has no juice as a ball carrier anymore.

[Moozician]

Hopeful pickup... Pretty decent blocker, hopefully, he will do better given the path provided by the OL.

I'm tired of Ronald Jones running out of bounds instead of going for the 1st down...
https://nbafullhd.com/55295-2/
(go to 4:30) then Tom (i imagine), talks to him about it (6:05 mark)

[MJW]

Hopeful pickup... Pretty decent blocker, hopefully, he will do better given the path provided by the OL.

I'm tired of Ronald Jones running out of bounds instead of going for the 1st down...
https://nbafullhd.com/55295-2/
(go to 4:30) then Tom (i imagine), talks to him about it (6:05 mark)

He's done this multiple times I've noticed. Look, I think he's a very gifted natural runner. If you didn't worry about him pass blocking or catching more than necessary and fed him (a la Derrick Henry), he'd probably challenge for a rushing title.

But when I see him duck out of bounds like a scared rabbit, while Leonard Fournette is murdering dudes for another foot of real estate, I have absolutely no problem with Rojo being shelved.

He's still doing that crap on Sunday and beyond, let Bell take his snaps.

[Bucsfan83]

Mixed feelings on this. Feel like it's just adding a body. Maybe Brady will put him in better positions, but we are a top heavy pass team.

[Miller4Prez64]

I don’t think he has anything left as a runner. But if he can help block blitzers and maybe catch a few passes for a few weeks, then he can be useful. I have zero faith in RoJo or Vaughn helping this team in the passing game.

[mdb1958]

You can tell when Brady throwing to the running backs is being an offensive weapon or a bailout. Many times the bailouts dont look so good.

There is a disconnect with the urgency of the play.