Le'Veon Bell Suspension Puts Steelers Firmly in Mix for Early-Round RB in Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers' trip to the playoffs last year was short-lived, largely because the team was without tailback Le'Veon Bell for its Wild Card Round matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Steelers are going to have play most of the month of September without Bell again this year, and while the team took some steps to improve its depth behind him in the offseason, the third-year pro's suspension could lead the Steelers to do something that may have seemed counterproductive not too long ago...

Select a running back early in the 2015 NFL draft.

As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported, Bell is facing a three-game suspension related to his arrest for DUI and possession of marijuana last fall:

It's a huge blow for the Steelers. Bell was the focal point of the Pittsburgh offense in his sophomore season, racking up over 2,200 total yards and scoring 11 total touchdowns en route to being named FedEx Ground Player of the Year and team MVP.

It wasn't hard to see just how important Bell was to the Steelers. Without him in the playoffs, Pittsburgh was completely one-dimensional on offense, which played a huge part in the team going one-and-done.

Granted, this suspension is hardly a shock. As Rapoport tweeted, the team has been bracing/preparing for this news for some time:

However, as Will Brinson of CBS Sports reported, the signing of DeAngelo Williams carries much more significance for the Steelers:

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The good news is he's got limited wear and tear on his body over the past three years.

Williams has dealt with injuries, but he's only carried the ball 436 times in the past three seasons. Averaging 4.1 yards per carry isn't too shabby over that stretch, even if his yards per carry average has gone from 4.3 to 4.2 to 3.5 over those three seasons.

Interestingly, Williams has 44 catches for 564 yards in those three seasons. He's not going to be splitting out wide like Bell ... but he's a capable receiving back who can fit with what the Steelers want to do in the short-passing game.

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Yes, Williams is a capable veteran running back who can also catch the ball out of the backfield and pass protect fairly well.

Unfortunately, Williams is also a 31-year-old (soon to be 32) running back who missed 10 games en route to a career-low 219 rushing yards last year. Williams hasn't hit the 1,000 rushing-yards mark since 2009 and hasn't gained 100 rushing yards in a game since September—of 2013.

Williams beats a blank, and he's an improvement over the depth (or complete lack thereof) behind Bell that the Steelers did (or, more accurately, didn't) have in 2014 after the team released LeGarrette Blount.

However, in an AFC North that's shaping up as another three-team dogfight in 2015 (sorry, Browns fans), counting on Williams to carry the mail over the season's first month could be asking for trouble.

And that's where the 2015 NFL draft comes in.

Player	School	Ht.	Wt.	Proj. Round*
David Johnson	N. Iowa	6'1"	224	2-3
Jeremy Langford	Mich. St.	6'0"	208	2-3
T.J. Yeldon	Alabama	6'1"	226	3
Javorius Allen	USC	6'0"	221	3
David Allen	Minnesota	5'11"	229	3-4
Mike Davis	S. Carolina	5'9"	217	3-4

Mind you, this isn't to say that Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert should consider using the No. 22 pick on a running back, or even the team's second-rounder (No. 56 overall).

The thing is, the Steelers don't have to.

The 2015 draft class in the backfield is as deep a group as we've seen in years, and there are several players who could be available when Pittsburgh picks at No. 87 and make an immediate impact for the team.

There's Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon, a 6'1" 226-pounder of whom Rob Rang and Dane Brugler of CBS Sports wrote, "offers better lateral agility and straight-line speed than predecessors Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson."

Then there's Northern Iowa's David Johnson. The consensus seems to be that the 6'1", 224-pounder may not have the straight-line speed to function as an every-down starter in the NFL, but one NFC North scout told CBS Sports that Johnson still brings plenty to the table in the pros.

"Everyone has doubted this player since high school, and all he does is produces," the scout said. "He's the hard-working MVP of that offense. Not sure he'll start in the league, but I like him in a third-down role, using him in the passing game."

There's also Mike Davis of South Carolina, whom Lance Zierlein of NFL.com compared to Alfred Morris of the Washington Redskins:

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Rhythm runner who is at his best when he's getting plenty of work. Davis has a surprising ability to turn on the jets and get on top of the secondary quickly for long runs, and his north-south mentality is a fit for the pros. With an ability to play on third down as well, the only thing holding Davis back is conditioning.

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And those are just the options if players like Ameer Abdullah of Nebraska or Michigan State's Jeremy Langford don't experience draft-day tumbles.

Granted, of that trio of backs I just mentioned, only Davis appears to have the skill set to function as a true featured back in the NFL, at least over the long haul.

The Steelers don't need that featured back, however. They need a player who can spell Williams and then, later, Bell. In short, Bell's suspension leaves the team in need of depth behind its depth.

It isn't just a matter of 2015, either. Even if Williams is able to turn back the clock, stay healthy and function as a decent complementary back this season, the 10th-year veteran is long in the tooth at a position where, more often than not, players don't age well.

In that respect, Bell's suspension may actually be a bit of a blessing in disguise for the Steelers. Were Bell ready to roll for Week 1, it's very possible that the team would choose to eschew the position in this year's draft, at least until Day 3.

Now, with Bell out until Week 4 and 33-year-old Ben Roethlisberger not getting any younger, the Steelers may well be more motivated to add depth in the backfield relatively early, lest the 2015 season start like the 2013 campaign did (a 0-4 hole that the team was unable to dig itself out of).

And given the depth and talent available in this year's running back class, that forced hand may wind up serving Pittsburgh well in the long run.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPManor.