Steelers Rookie RB Le’Veon Bell Has a Mid-Foot Sprain – Fantasy Implications
Alex Dunlap, RosterWatch.com

Le’Veon Bell, we hardly even knew ya.

Expect the rookie Steelers RB to take an ADP free-fall in the coming weeks as 2013 fantasy football drafts start in earnest. Bell has been diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain that the organization has yet to “announce” the severity of. This does not mean Bell has the dreaded lisfranc injury, but it certainly means he could. In fact, this is exact standard operating procedure for slowly breaking that news to anyone who cares.

Announce nothing, say the player is “week to week” or is “still being evaluated,” and next thing you know, we’re four weeks into the season and the fifth-round fantasy pick on your 0-4 team hasn’t even suited up yet.

For now, the player in fantasy who will gain the most value with Bell’s absence in Jonathan Dwyer. After starting camp with a bruised knee, Bell re-injured himself with the foot and opened the door for Jonathan Dwyer to go for 68 yards on 14 carries Monday along with two catches while fellow veteran RB Isaac Redmman was sidelined with a neck injury.

Sign up for the FREE RosterWatch Premium Service and download our exclusive 2013 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. All Free!

What fans saw in Dwyer was exactly what they are used to. A slow, plodding back with good vision and very little burst or wiggle. Basically, the same running back the Steelers drafted in Le’Veon Bell. It’s ironic looking back that the Steelers passed on the best RB in the 2013 NFL draft, Eddie Lacy, for Bell for reported injury concerns.

Bell was the first RB taken in the 2013 draft, and the obvious future workhorse in Pittsburgh. We loved the situation he fell into, and were OK with his fifth-to-sixth round ADP in standard leagues prior to the injury, even given the horrible state of the Steelers offensive line.

Now, that has changed. A rookie runner comes with numerous question marks to start with, but a rookie runner who does not play an entire preseason with a mid-foot sprain is an animal all it’s own, and should only be handled with the most protective skunk-proof gloves available.

The best advice until we hear further (definitive) news is to keep your hands off Le’Veon Bell in fantasy drafts. As the season approaches, Dwyer may provide good value late in drafts as a player who could conceivably generate immediate, short-lived contribution at a minimal flex-type level for fantasy owners.