Agreed. At 24 Bell should just be entering his prime. His past violations of league drug policy and two serious knee injuries make him a riskier long term investment than he should be for the Steelers/other NFL teams and in FF.
But there is no doubt in my mind that he is the best all around RB in football right now. His patience and fluidity are in a class of their own. I'm still struggling to find a comp for his running style and past RBs who displayed his patience at the LOS.
I thought maybe Priest Holmes, who BTW had the most dominant 3 1/2 season stretch of any RB in FF history. For those too young to remember or who have forgotten from 2001 to 2004 when he was hurt 8 games into the season Holmes AVERAGED 141 yards from scrimmage and 1.4 TD per game. 1.4 TDs per game!!!!!
Any way, I just watched some Holmes highlights and while he was a very patient runner, he also ran with a FB- Tony Richardson who doesnt get the credit he deserves either- and was just a different type runner than Bell. I would love, however, for Bell to get more of Holmes nose for the endzone. His career TD rate thus far is 0.6 per game, which less than that of Holmes during his historic run. I havent crunched the numbers on a per touch basis but again, Holmes was insane during that stretch.
Anyway, there is no RB I like watching more than Bell and I'm glad I own him in all 3 of my redraft leagues. Just hoping he stays healthy and avoids suspension obviously.
And would love to see others thoughts on style comps from other RBs.