Houston Texans: 3 Reasons Le’Veon Bell would help franchise
There are some issues for the Houston Texans to work on this offseason within their offense, and one possible fix could be adding running back Le’Veon Bell to the roster.
Where exactly the Houston Texans stand on the running back position for the 2019 offseason is a mystery, but one could wonder if they are interested in adding to the roster by signing free agent running back Le’Veon Bell.
Remember, Bell sat out all last season due to a contract dispute with his former team — the Pittsburgh Steelers — and though they were just one win away from making the playoffs, having him available this past season would have made them a better team.
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The Steelers rebounded and had an excellent season from James Conner in his first year as a starter, and the Steelers will be fine with Conner leading them at running back, but this is about the Houston Texans. In all seriousness, the Texans need to have a long discussion when it comes to adding or not adding Bell to the 2019 roster via free agent signing.
This article isn’t about whether the Texans should or shouldn’t sign Bell to the roster. Rather, this is about how Bell could help the Texans become a better overall offense and help them get over the hump of not just qualifying for the playoffs — which they have, in four of the past five seasons — but to be competitive once they reach the “second season.”
During the Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts, the AFC South champion Texans didn’t have any poise offensively, some due to the play of the offensive line and others elsewhere, including at running back. In the 21-7 loss to the Colts, the Texans had five carries for 18 yards from starting running back Lamar Miller, eight yards on two carries from Alfred Blue and three yards on one carry by D’Onta Foreman.
Numbers like that can’t occur, and no disrespect, but the quarterback of the team shouldn’t have to be the leading rusher in the biggest game of the season. Granted, the Texans trailed 14-0 after the first quarter in the loss, but c’mon, the rushing game has to be better than that, or the passing game has very little chance to be effective.
That is where a possible signing of Bell could come into play. Though there is some indecision on my part at this point of the offseason in whether the Texans need to pay a steep price for Bell to join the roster, they have to do something to make the rushing game competitive. Miller didn’t have 1,000 yards rushing again, while Blue and Foreman aren’t ready to be starters in the league.
Even ESPN got into the discussion and predicted that Bell would sign with the Texans this offseason, as Dan Graziano of ESPN.com had this to say of Bell and the Texans:
"“The Jets, 49ers and Texans are all in it, but Houston wins out by selling Bell on what he can do in an offense that features Deshaun Watson at quarterback and DeAndre Hopkins at wide receiver.”"
That makes for fun talk in January, but there is still a lot to think about before that could ever occur. In keeping with that theme, here are three reasons that Bell could make the Texans offense better if he signs during free agency.