Former Steelers Guard Ramon Foster Explains How Frustrated Offensive Line Was With Le'Veon Bell In Beginning

Former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro running back, Le'Veon Bell took the league by storm when he arrived in 2014. The Michigan State product had a unique style of running the ball where he would wait behind his line for holes to open up. Just like it took everyone watching Bell some time to get used to it, former Steelers guard Ramon Foster said it took some time for the offensive line to get used to it as well.

The three-time Pro Bowler recently made headlines after announcing on social media that he plans to attempt an NFL comeback. During Tuesday's The Ramon Foster Show, a listener asked about the challenge of blocking for a running back with a unique style that has not been seen before and hasn't been replicated since. Foster, who blocked for Bell throughout his career in Pittsburgh, provided some interesting insights into the challenge.

"In the beginning, it was frustrating," Foster said. "Everybody has a time clock to their job. The quarterback getting the ball out, the wide receiver and his routes, the linebacker when he knows he can blitz, and so do offensive linemen when they block. You have one and a half to two seconds to hit your gap and go. So, in the earlier stages of Lev [Bell] running, we were like, 'What in the h**l he got going on, just hit the gap and go.'”

He added that despite the frustration in adapting their style as an offensive line to suit Bell, they knew it was required because they'd seen how well his style worked in practice. Foster continued that Mike Munchak, the team's offensive line coach, was instrumental in helping the unit figure out the right tactics to support Bell's running. 

"Munch [Munchak] had to really reel us back in and said we’re going to have to adjust," explained Foster. "We’re going to have to be patient in our blocking. Our double teams are going to have to be really locked in. First level first, I don’t care what the linebacker is doing unless they shot your gap and knocked you off your block, don’t leave." 

The hard work adjusting to Bell's unique style paid dividends that the team had seen in practice, as he racked up 5,336 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns. He ended up being a two-time top-10 finisher in voting for the AP Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Bell infamously left Pittsburgh for the New York Jets in 2019 after holding out and trying to reset the market on running back salaries. He played one full season for the Jets and got into two games in his second year before he was released to seek other opportunities. He later played in nine regular season games and one playoff game with the Kansas City Chiefs to end the 2020 season. He was not pleased with the overall experience in Kansas City after he felt that the Chiefs and Andy Reid didn't give him the opportunities that had been promised.

He tried to play one more season, starting the year with the Baltimore Ravens and ending with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bell was never able to find another team that valued him or used him like Pittsburgh did. In his final season in the NFL, to date, his best game was in Week 9 of the 2021 season, with 11 carries for 48 yards. 

Steelers' Foster Reveals Why Bell Couldn't Have Success Elsewhere

As mentioned earlier, after leaving Pittsburgh, Bell's success declined. According to Foster, the primary reason for this decline was the lack of support he received from the offensive line. During his time with the Steelers, Bell was fortunate to have played alongside talented players such as nine-time Pro Bowler Maurkice Pouncey and six-time Pro Bowler David DeCastro, who were instrumental in his success.

Foster said that he thought Baltimore and Tampa Bay had the kind of personnel on their lines to make Bell successful. Ultimately, for him, it was just a perfect match between the line that Pittsburgh had assembled and how their personality matched with Bell. That was something tough to replace when he was bouncing from team to team afterwards.