Jets OT Kelvin Beachum on blocking for Le’Veon Bell: ‘Make a little room and he’ll turn lemons into lemonade’

As teammates for three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum learned plenty about how to block for running back Le’Veon Bell.

Now that they’ve been reunited on the New York Jets, who began their offseason program this week, Beachum intends to apply that knowledge to help Bell make the massive contribution that many are expecting him to make with his new team.

‘You give him a crease and you just hold your block’

“When I was in Pittsburgh, all we talked about was, ‘Just give him a crease, just give him a crease,’” Beachum told Bob Papa and Charlie Weis on The Opening Drive. “You give him a crease and you just hold your block. And it’s not like you’ve got to hold your block longer, but it’s one of those things with offensive linemen where you know you created a foot of space, that’s all he needs to get through there and make something happen.”

“And a lot of times, with a back like Le’Veon, all you’ve got to do is get him through the line of scrimmage and let him make hay and take care of rest of the magic from there. It’s not one of these things where you’ve got to change up your blocking technique or change the way that you do think as offensive linemen. All you’ve got to do is just make a little room for him. Make a little room for him and he’ll turn lemons into lemonade.”

‘You know the type of strain he can put on a defense’

Beachum, who was Bell’s teammate in Pittsburgh from 2013 to 2015, is looking forward to the other Jets players getting a first-hand look at the type of back Bell is once on-field drills begin in the offseason.

“He’s a great short-yardage back and a guy that can carry the ball, I will say, 20-plus times a game and then do it over the over the long haul of the season.”

“You know the type of strain he can put on a defense whether he’s in the backfield, coming out of the backfield, whether he’s lined up in the slot, whether he’s carrying the ball,” Beachum said. “He’s a great short-yardage back and a guy that can carry the ball, I will say, 20-plus times a game and then do it over the over the long haul of the season.

‘None of this stuff matters unless you put it on film on Sundays’

“Kind of, I’m going to say, do it with ease, but he does it very efficiently. So excited to have him to building, but at the end of the day, it’s great to do all these things during the offseason, but none of this stuff matters unless you put it on film on Sundays in September, October, November, December.”