Le'Veon Bell -- My Music's As Good as Drake, Rick Ross & Future

Big day for Le'Veon Bell ... whose brand new rap album "Post Interview" cracked the iTunes Top 10 Hip-Hop charts today -- and the NFL star tells us he thinks his rhyme skills are on par with the best in the game.

The Steelers running back joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) and says he's HONORED to be on the same list as guys like Drake, Rick Ross and Future.

In fact, Bell says he strongly believes he's just as talented as them ... adding, "my music is just as good as those guys."

No question Bell's poppin' right now ... his single "Shrimp Bayless" has almost 1 million plays on his SoundCloud page.

And get this ... he's also getting ready to drop a new single featuring Snoop -- and says it's straight fire.

Stay tuned for that one.