Replacing TE Blake Bell a necessity for Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs used 12 personnel (two tight end sets) on over 30 percent of their plays in 2019.

Kansas City Chiefs fans might not initially look at Blake Bell’s role during the 2019 season and think much of it.

Bell played in a total of 18 games with the Chiefs in 2019, including the playoffs, starting seven of those games. He caught 11-of-18 passes for 91 yards, scoring his first career touchdown during the comeback win over the Texans in the playoffs. Four of his 11 receptions went for first down conversions.

At face value, Bell’s production looks entirely mundane and replaceable, but the role he played in Chiefs’ offense was vital. He was primarily utilized as a blocker for 12 personnel groupings in Kansas City. The Chiefs lined up in 12 personnel on over 30 percent of their offensive snaps in 2019, which is good for the fourth-most in the NFL.

The big realization from NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah here is that the five teams using this personnel grouping the most made it to the playoffs. Now there’s certainly more to the success of Chiefs than 12 personnel usage. And while Blake Bell is part of those groupings, he’s obviously not the only reason they’re successful. But that’s not to say the team doesn’t need to find an adequate replacement for Bell.

Including the playoffs, Bell played over 400 snaps as an inline blocker in 12 personnel looks for the Chiefs. During those snaps, Bell only allowed very few pressures in pass protection. As a run blocker, he wasn’t quite as successful with just a 57.7 run-blocking grade per PFF.

Bell, of course, left in free agency to join the Dallas Cowboys. So who do the Chiefs have tabbed to replace Bell in the 2020 season? They brought in free agent TE Ricky Seals-Jones, who is undoubtedly more of a threat as a receiver to Bell. He’s coming off of a career-high four touchdown season in 2019 with the Browns. Seals-Jones is also a better pass-blocker than he is a run blocker with grades above 70 in each of the past two seasons per PFF.

Returning from 2019 the Chiefs have Deon Yelder, who spent the season on the 53-man roster, but failed to do much besides play on special teams. Nick Keizer spent the entire season on the practice squad after a standout preseason performance in 2019, posting grades over 70 in each of receiving, pass blocking and run blocking per PFF. There’s also the dark horse in converted QB John Lovett, who played more of an H-back role for the Chiefs before landing on injured reserve with a shoulder injury during the 2019 preseason.

Kansas City has options and until they see the field it’s hard to determine who has the advantage right now. One thing is for certain for the Chiefs, if they’re to continue using 12 personnel at such a high rate, they must find a suitable replacement option. If they’re lucky they might even be able to find a player out of the bunch that is considered to be an upgrade over Bell.

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