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By Rolf Gube
Mike Bell / Tatum Bell / Ron Dayne
Mike Shanahan stunned the football world, especially legions of Denver Bronco fans by boldly drafting troubled running back Maurice Claret with the very last pick on day one of the 2005 NFL Draft. So what does he do for an encore this year? Why, naming undrafted rookie running back Mike Bell as number one on the depth chart before the first Bronco preseason game. Never a dull moment in Denver.
Mike Bell is a big back weighing in at 220 lbs. who was used to carrying the load in college ball for Arizona. He compliments his quickness with good receiving skills. He doesn't take advantage of his size all the time as he has been known to shy away from contact.
Tatum Bell is a home run hitter who can take it to the house any time he touches the ball. He can look tentative when trying to hit and break through the line, though when he does he has great quickness resulting in big gains. His blocking skills leave a lot to be desired. Tatum has yet to establish himself as a receiving threat out of the backfield. At this point in his career, he cannot be counted on to deliver in goal line situations due to shortcomings in his ability to crash the line.
Ron Dayne came over to the Denver Broncos after years of failing to meet the expectations of being the Giants first round draft choice in the year 2000. Much of this can be attributed to playing behind one of the finest RB's in the game in Tiki Barber, though Dayne must share some of the blame as he developed a reputation for not keeping himself in game ready conditioning. Considering who his coach was in New York, it was a one way ticket to the doghouse. When signed by Denver, Dayne had an opportunity to re-establish himself as a viable running back in the NFL. He responded by showing some promise by earning the chance for some playing time. He has his shortcomings; he is definitely not a receiving threat and lacks speed and explosiveness. He will never be a big play threat as a result. For a man his size you would think that he would be a great goal line threat, but frustrates coaches and fans alike by a lack of aggressiveness in those situations. Still, this is a 'coachable' flaw and Shanahan could be the man to instill more of an aggressive quality in Dayne.
We will never know what Shanahan's modus operandi is, though one can speculate that this strategy is an attempt to motivate Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne whom he may perceive are underachieving.
Fantasy Impact -
This hardly marks the end of what is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing battles in pre-season. Mike Bell didn't exactly distinguish himself in his first preseason game rushing seven times for twenty yards and, ominously, fumbling once. Nonetheless, by being placed first in the pecking order, it's Mike Bell's job to lose. This would be a tenuous number one at best and one would be wise to let another fantasy owner buy into the hype and draft Mike Bell.
The whole situation makes Ron Dayne and Tatum Bell sleepers to a point. Tatum Bell, before Shanahan's announcement, was a candidate for the 'overrated' lists but suddenly Tatum will fall like a rock in the draft rankings and is now worthy of a flyer pick in the mid rounds. Ron Dayne looked like he would fill the now departed Mike Anderson role and be the prime first and second down back this year. This is now very much in question as his ranking, like Tatum's, falls a few rounds to the point where he too is a sleeper pick.
With the preseason, and regular season, looming, the Lions have been hard at work to erase memories of past seasons and correct their flaws. Though their training camp has been closed so far, a couple of Lions players gave insights on working with the new coaching staff in an interview with DSR. To those who weren't fortunate enough to catch the segments, I'll recap what was said and what to make of it.
The longest interview was with new quarterback Jon Kitna. Jon said that he chose to play the Lions because he wanted to play for Marinelli and Martz. He also admitted to studying Martz's Rams on film while on the Bengals. He seemed very excited about playing for Martz, saying that in Cincinatti he always wished he had Mad Mike's playbook. Kitna went on to praise the talent on the Lion's roster and talked a little about the Lion's playoff hopes.
If you are a Lions fan, this interview was exactly what we needed to hear. Kitna is excited to be in Detroit, playing under Marinelli and Martz, and is confident in the team. He even called practicing in 100 degrees plus weather as "great." Jon is a better quarterback then he gets credit for, and he has had four 3000+ yards passing seasons, an upgrade over Joey's usual 2000-2500.
A brief segment was done with backup quarterback Josh McCown. McCown said all the right things, that he believed in Jon and had his back if he needed him. He also said that Kitna got the starting nod due to his years in the league and he expected that.
If you've read past articles by me on the Lions, you know I have a high opinion of Mr. McCown. He isn't going to be the starter on opening weekend, unless an injury to Jon Kitna occurs, but he does have talent. It was clear as day that he was disappointed in not being chosen, but it is good to see he accepts his role on the team.
The next piece was the most interesting for me. Charles Rogers was expected to be a great wide receiver for the Lions, and he hasn't performed as expected. It seems Marinelli is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, however, as he has already named Rogers the starter alongside Roy Williams.
Besides clearing up one of the biggest, possible, training camp position battles for the Lions, Marinelli is helping his cause with the Lions by catering to Charles. Rogers has more talent then any other possibility at the second starter position. He also seems to be working hard in practice and is earning the trust of the coaching staff. He did have attitude problems last season, but Mike Williams makes him look like a saint (not of the New Orlean's variety of course.) It should be made clear that this is his last chance, he can either succeed or go to another team.
Finally, Kenoy Kennedy offered his insight on the team. He went off to compare Mike Shanahan to Rod Marinelli and said that both were very similar. He also said that he came to the Lions to help improve the team, and he expected them to be "more normal" this season.
Kennedy is a good player who had a nice season last year. He should improve under a better coach. When talking about past coaches, he never mentioned Mooch once. It must have been really bad last season in the locker room.
There is an open practice on Saturday for anyone who is interested. Starts at 6:15 at Ford and is the first one of the season.
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