What impact will Le'Veon Bell have on the Chiefs?
Yahoo Sports' Terez Paylor breaks down Le'Veon Bell's potential role within the Kansas City offense.
Video Transcript
TEREZ PAYLOR: So free agent running back Le'Veon Bell has a new home, and a source tells me it's gonna be Kansas City. That's right, the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs have reached a deal with Le'Veon Bell to bring him into the fold here. I think in a couple different ways, Le'Veon Bell has a chance to really help this football team.
Obviously, the Chiefs are 4 and 1, and they've got a really dynamic young running back in Clyde Edwards-Helaire, their first-round pick from this year. However, Le'Veon Bell will help diversify the offense in a few different ways and really give them some quality depth at a position that's quite important.
I mean, every week teams know when you face the Chiefs, you need to be able to contain the run game. You need to contain the pass game, especially the pass game because of Patrick Mahomes. And teams, because of that, have decided, all right, we're gonna drop seven into coverage and rush four. Which means you need to be able to run the football in these types of fronts to get them to commit more bodies to the box.
That's where Le'Veon Bell can come in. He's such a patient runner. I think that the Chiefs have the play-caller in Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy that can call the things that will help him survive and thrive. But I also think he's got a chance to really help this team in the passing game. Remember, Andy Reid is one of the best screen callers in pro football, and Le'Veon Bell is actually really good on screens.
He's also good split out running routes, and he's been productive at doing both those things. So I do expect Le'Veon Bell to play a role in the pass game and on third downs as well as a pass blocker. This is very important. That was one area where Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn't have a lot of experience and wasn't great at in college. And because of the COVID offseason, he really hasn't repped it as much as he would ordinarily.
So now potentially on third downs, if this goes well, you'll have Le'Veon Bell in there who's a big body at 6'2", 225 and also a great pass receiver that can help on third down. So it's early yet to try to figure out what his role will be, but I do think these are some key areas that he can help. At the very least, this is a risk-free move for the Chiefs. This is a move that solidifies the running back position and gives them one more weapon on their march to running it back.
