As a Stanford Cardinal and Pittsburgh Steeler fan, always like when my interests intersect (like when David DeCastro fell to the Steelers in the draft several years ago 
).
Anyway, pretty good piece in MMQB from Peter King about McCaffrey and, arguably the best all purpose back in the NFL today, Le'Veon Bell of the Steelers:
Giants Sweep Cowboys is the headline of the week. But the story I like the most is the greatness of Le’Veon Bell, and his budding relationship with one of the future stars of the NFL.
First: There’s one back in football whose strange main characteristic is his calm. That’s right. A big part of Le’Veon Bell’s greatness is lying back and not attacking holes, but rather waiting ... waiting ... waiting until the right one opens.
Bell had the best game of his professional life Sunday in the Steelers’ 27-20 win over Buffalo. He’d never touched the ball more than 36 times in a game in his four-year career. On Sunday, he had the most productive day by a back against the Bills in their 57-season history, touching it 42 times for 298 yards; 236 yards came on the ground, on 38 carries.
His distinctive style—wait, wait and then hit the hole with speed and, if necessary, power—has earned Bell a fan in California. Last week, doing my podcast with Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, who has declared for the 2017 NFL draft, the two-time collegiate national leader in all-purpose yards told me that Bell is the pro back he watches the most. In fact, it’s more than watching. Though they haven’t met yet, McCaffrey and Bell have become video buddies. McCaffrey has sent Bell some of his tape, Bell has critiqued it, and McCaffrey has put that critique into play at Stanford.
“I love watching Le'Veon Bell,” McCaffrey said on campus last week. “I think he has a great mix of doing everything as a running back. He is a very good complete back. His patience, setting up his blocks so well, hitting the hole fast, breaking tackles, making people miss … That’s the kind of stuff, when I look at his game and look at my game, what I really try to emulate is the aspect of patience, and not just running full-speed downhill. Let your blocks develop before you hit that hole, try to get in the best position of getting one on one with the safety in the open field, make him miss, and then turn on the jets from there.”
Bell got excited Sunday when I mentioned that McCaffrey was a fan.
“That’s my guy!” Bell said. “That means everything in the world to me. He’s a really special runner. I try to break some things down with him. He sent me a lot of his clips, to see what he could have done, what maybe I would have done on the same play—you know, to critique him a little bit. I think in this off-season I’ll meet up with him and work with him.
“He is a special player. You don’t see too many players who play the running back position who not only can run the ball and pass-protect, but who can catch the ball and who can run routes like a receiver. He’s very lean, very quick, great hands, can run any route … That caught me off guard when I first started watching him at the end of his sophomore year. He ran every route in the route tree.”
Back to the pennant race. Bell said the snow game in Buffalo didn’t bother him, nor did the workload, “because I grew up in that weather [in central Ohio]. Maybe you can’t cut as good as you normally would, but I embrace it. And coming to the Steelers was the perfect situation for me. I love the physical play.”
The patience, he says, is a byproduct of having an offensive line he trusts, knowing when it’s smart to burst through a hole and when to make the most of what he has in traffic. “He’ll sit back there in the backfield with the ball in his hands for four, five seconds before everybody makes their blocks,” said McCaffrey, exaggerating a bit. But you get his point. “As soon as he sees the hole, he hits it. That’s the kind of stuff I love to emulate.”
).Anyway, pretty good piece in MMQB from Peter King about McCaffrey and, arguably the best all purpose back in the NFL today, Le'Veon Bell of the Steelers:
Giants Sweep Cowboys is the headline of the week. But the story I like the most is the greatness of Le’Veon Bell, and his budding relationship with one of the future stars of the NFL.
First: There’s one back in football whose strange main characteristic is his calm. That’s right. A big part of Le’Veon Bell’s greatness is lying back and not attacking holes, but rather waiting ... waiting ... waiting until the right one opens.
Bell had the best game of his professional life Sunday in the Steelers’ 27-20 win over Buffalo. He’d never touched the ball more than 36 times in a game in his four-year career. On Sunday, he had the most productive day by a back against the Bills in their 57-season history, touching it 42 times for 298 yards; 236 yards came on the ground, on 38 carries.
His distinctive style—wait, wait and then hit the hole with speed and, if necessary, power—has earned Bell a fan in California. Last week, doing my podcast with Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, who has declared for the 2017 NFL draft, the two-time collegiate national leader in all-purpose yards told me that Bell is the pro back he watches the most. In fact, it’s more than watching. Though they haven’t met yet, McCaffrey and Bell have become video buddies. McCaffrey has sent Bell some of his tape, Bell has critiqued it, and McCaffrey has put that critique into play at Stanford.
“I love watching Le'Veon Bell,” McCaffrey said on campus last week. “I think he has a great mix of doing everything as a running back. He is a very good complete back. His patience, setting up his blocks so well, hitting the hole fast, breaking tackles, making people miss … That’s the kind of stuff, when I look at his game and look at my game, what I really try to emulate is the aspect of patience, and not just running full-speed downhill. Let your blocks develop before you hit that hole, try to get in the best position of getting one on one with the safety in the open field, make him miss, and then turn on the jets from there.”
Bell got excited Sunday when I mentioned that McCaffrey was a fan.
“That’s my guy!” Bell said. “That means everything in the world to me. He’s a really special runner. I try to break some things down with him. He sent me a lot of his clips, to see what he could have done, what maybe I would have done on the same play—you know, to critique him a little bit. I think in this off-season I’ll meet up with him and work with him.
“He is a special player. You don’t see too many players who play the running back position who not only can run the ball and pass-protect, but who can catch the ball and who can run routes like a receiver. He’s very lean, very quick, great hands, can run any route … That caught me off guard when I first started watching him at the end of his sophomore year. He ran every route in the route tree.”
Back to the pennant race. Bell said the snow game in Buffalo didn’t bother him, nor did the workload, “because I grew up in that weather [in central Ohio]. Maybe you can’t cut as good as you normally would, but I embrace it. And coming to the Steelers was the perfect situation for me. I love the physical play.”
The patience, he says, is a byproduct of having an offensive line he trusts, knowing when it’s smart to burst through a hole and when to make the most of what he has in traffic. “He’ll sit back there in the backfield with the ball in his hands for four, five seconds before everybody makes their blocks,” said McCaffrey, exaggerating a bit. But you get his point. “As soon as he sees the hole, he hits it. That’s the kind of stuff I love to emulate.”
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