Le’Veon Bell had a historic performance on Sunday versus the Bills. His meteoric 298 yard effort puts him in the conversation of many players, past and present.

For example, Bell  is the second player in NFL history with at least 225 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and 50 receiving yards in a single game, joining Hall of Famer Jim Brown.

Also, Bell now holds the Steelers record for most rushing yards in a single game with 236 yards, eclipsing Willie Parker‘s previous mark of 223.

In recent weeks Bell has been the Steelers greatest weapon.

This begs the question, has Bell done enough to put himself in the conversation for NFL MVP?

From what I have observed thus far, there is no clear front runner in the MVP race. Names I’ve seen thrown around include Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, Ezekiel Elliott, and Tom Brady.

Tom Brady’s inclusion in MVP talks creates a precedent for Bell: if a quarterback can miss a significant number of games, and still be considered an MVP candidate, why shouldn’t Bell?

Ezekiel Elliot is also an interesting case. Despite being a rookie, Elliott has had a great year and is currently leading the league in rush yards.

Lets take a look at how Bell compares to the fellow top running backs in the league.

	Rushing yards	Receiving yards	Total yards	% of team yards
David Johnson	1,085	745	1,830	41%
Ezekiel Elliott	1,392	322	1,714	34%
Le’Veon Bell	1,053	563	1,616	43%*

* in games played 

As we can see, Bell is not the leader in rushing, receiving, or total yards. What is interesting, is that among these 3 players, Bell has accounted for the highest portion of yardage for his offense.

By the definition, this certainly makes Bell the most valuable player on the Steelers offense.

Le’Veon Bell’s numbers are fantastic this year, but what makes them more unbelievable is the fact that Bell missed the first 3 games of the season. Bells number’s are comparable to players who played in 3 more games than him.

To get an understanding of what kind of season Bell could be having had he not missed some, here are Bell’s numbers projected across 3 additional games.

Take a moment to let these numbers sink in. Had Bell not been suspended for 3 games, he would easily be leading these players in total yardage.

	Rushing yards	Receiving yards	Total yards
Le’Veon Bell	1,369	732	2,101

These stats serve a dual purpose. Being that there are 3 games remaining, this total reflects how Bell’s yardage is projected to be at the end of the regular season. From a statistical standpoint, Bell is projected to finish the 2016 regular season with 2,101 total yards.

Just for fun, let’s take things a step further and project Bell’s season across 16 games.

	Rushing yards	Receiving yards	Total yards
Le’Veon Bell	1,685	901	2586

I’m aware that these numbers are useless, because they are mere projections; but the fact that Bell could have potentially put up these numbers is fascinating to think about. These sort of figures would potentially make Le’Veon Bell’s 2016 season a historic one.

Perhaps the greatest ever.

For even further comparison, lets take a look at the last 3 running backs to win the MVP award.

	Rushing yards	Receiving yards	Total yards	% of team yards
Adrian Peterson (2012)	2,097	217	2,314	43%
LaDainian Tomlinson (2006)	1,815	370	2,185	37%
Shaun Alexander (2005)	1,880	78	1,958	33%

Let’s forget about Bell’s 16 game projection for now, and focus on his 13 game projection. Even with missing the first 3 games of the season, Bell is projected to finish the season with 2,101 yards.

This amount is easily comparable to the last 3 running backs to win the MVP award.

His rushing yards are far less than these 3 players, but his receiving yards exceed all 3 of the above players’ receiving totals combined. His portion of the Steelers total team yardage also matches Adrian Peterson’s in 2012.

After his performance versus the Bills, I certainly expect Le’Veon Bell to join the race for MVP. If voters can look past his missed games, and see how vital he has been this year to the Steelers, he even he has a shot at winning.