DeAngelo Williams

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Wednesday morning extolled the virtues of the versatile LeVeon Bell, the former All Pro running back who's one of the league's best pass-catchers at his position. Roethlisberger said to expect packages in which tailbacks Bell and DeAngelo Williams both take part in snaps.

“Listen, we're not going to put him in at wide receiver and use DeAngelo as the running back,” Roethlisberger said of Bell, who returns from a three-game suspension this week in advance of Sunday night's home game against Kansas City. “But we will, I think, have them both on the field and move him out of the backfield.

“We're not going to take the ‘RB' off in front of his name and put ‘WR” – but I definitely think he's one of our best receivers.”

When a team has two good-to-great running backs, this is something that is often said but doesn't always happen. The Steelers may be without Eli Rogers (toe), though they could move Markus Wheaton to the slot, where he played (very effectively, by the way) last season before moving to the outside. Bell could also line up as a receiver at times, which would force the defense to adjust. Williams may have standalone value this year, but that wasn't the case last year. Williams saw only 4.5 touches per game in the six games that he and Bell both played.