Will Le’Veon Bell’s arrest effect his Fantasy value?
Courtesy @mikedarnay Twitter
The news of Pittsburgh Steeler‘s running back Le’veon Bell‘s arrest for Marijuana possession has fantasy owners around the world in a panic. But should they be? To answer this question we must take a look back in the history books. In the past 5 years, there have been 32 cases of Marijuana possession arrests. Of those 32 players arrested, only 4 were suspended by the NFL for either violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy or for player conduct. All 4 players received their league suspension punishments months to a year later and all those suspensions were for one game.
- LB Leroy Hill was arrested for Marijuana possession on 1/24/2009. He was given a 1 game league suspension on 7/16/10
- DT Nate Collins was arrested for Marijuana possession on 2/23/2012. He was given a 1 game league suspension on 7/20/13
- LB Nigel Bradham was arrested for Marijuana possession on 8/19/13. He was given a 1 game league suspension on 7/30/14
- WR Dwayne Bowe was arrested for Marijuana possession on 11/10/13. He was given a 1 game league suspension on 8/15/14
Conclusion: The arrest will effect Bell’s fantasy value, but in a positive way! A month ago Le’Veon was being drafted in the late first to mid second round. Since his arrest he has been falling down draft boards to the 3rd-4th round. Drafters are panicking, not realizing these 1 game Marijuana arrest suspensions take a while to come down. He is an excellent value that you must take advantage of! The suspension, if any, won’t effect him till the 2015 season. He will continue to grow into a monster RB1 in that Steelers running back friendly offense.