The Le'Veon Bell Wildcard

Le’Veon Bell is playing the role of the crazy ex-girlfriend as good  as anyone in the league right now.  Just when you think things are all good he reminds you why you walked away in the first place.  With another suspension looming for Bell we find ourselves in a similar predicament as last offseason.  The major difference in 2016 is that we know what DeAngelo Williams can offer and he is the reason we all should potentially be ‘excited’ about a Bell suspension.  Yes, I said it….  Excited.

This will be a simple piece to give readers an idea of what the starting running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers did last year.  With this information you can weigh the choice of drafting Le’Veon at what his new ADP is with the full intention of grabbing DeAngelo a handful of rounds later, nor not.  Securing the Pittsburgh backfield is something I advocate simply because it treated me well last year not to mention how fantasy friendly the starting RB for the Steelers is.  The decision won't be about what the production is, but rather if the rounds in which you have to draft both guys is worth it to your draft strategy.  Let’s take a look.

The ADP (average draft position) of these guys right now is:

• Bell - 2.02
• Williams - 6.07

Pittsburgh Steelers RB production in 2015:

2015 Season	G	Att	Tar	Rec	Yards	TD	yds/touch	FPTS
Le’Veon Bell	6	113	26	24	692	3	5.1	*
DeAngelo Williams	16	200	47	40	1,274	11	5.3	*
Total	16	313	73	64	1,966	14	5.2	353.6

You will have a majority of the 380 touches the Pittsburgh Steelers give to their running backs by owning this backfield.  

This production for the Pittsburgh running back position speaks for itself.  The question is whether you believe the volume will go to Le’Veon when he comes back in week five the same way it did last year (and I do believe you will).  When he came back healthy, in weeks 3-7, DeAngelo’s touches were as follows:

• 1 touch
• 2 touches
• 5 touches
• 1 touch
• 5 touches

This workload breakdown when both are healthy will give you production very similar to what that total shows in the chart above (353 PPR points).  I do not believe Le'Veon will come off the field anywhere near what rumors have led us to believe at this point.  His talent doesn't come around often and winning regular season games is no easy task.  Keeping Bell healthy for a playoff run, as important as it sounds, is not as necessary as winning the games that allow you to make the playoffs. Let’s not forget that Bell coming off the knee injury from last season may actually welcome a few extra weeks of rest.  And as we sit here today there is still a chance this suspension is reduced or overturned.   

My plan in rounds 1-7 if I was drafting soon would be this:

WR - Le’Veon - WR - RB - RB - DeAngelo Williams - WR

I am aware that going into a draft with a set strategy is not the ideal process, but what I also know is if my plan changes it’s because I am finding value that I did not expect to get.  That being said I think formulating this draft plan is the worst case scenario I am willing to accept and I still believe that plan is worth it.

The next aspect of this situation to consider is whether it is worth it to draft DeAngelo Williams if you do not own Le’Veon Bell.  If the sixth round is the round in question to grab DeAngelo these are the players you will be deciding between according to 12-team PPR fantasy football calculator ADP:

1. Giovani Bernard
2. Emmanuel Sanders
3. Josh Gordon
4. Ryan Mathews
5. Allen Hurns
6. DeVante Parker
7. Jonathan Stewart
8. Drew Brees
9. Delanie Walker
10. John Brown
11. Jeremy Hill
12. Coby Fleener
13. Travis Kelce

My answer is yes, draft DeAngelo Williams if he is staring you down in the sixth round.  Anything earlier than that I can’t get on board with simply because of the year long talent you are passing on with some other options.  But the 4-game workload you will get from DeAngelo is well worth it for me to springboard the first quarter of my fantasy season.