They don’t call him Mike Shenanigans for nothing. In a move that should surprise no one who follows football, Shanahan named Mike Bell the Broncos No. 1 running back Monday. Many expected Bell to be the Broncos’ top rusher this year, but his first name was Tatum, not Mike.
Mike Bell went undrafted in April’s NFL Draft. Out of 255 players selected, 18 of which were running backs, none of them were Bell. Many passed because he lacked “long-speed,” evident by his unremarkable 4.63 40-yard dash speed. Then again, the same could be said about Terrell Davis. Bell was very durable in college, only missing one game, although never breaking the 1,000-yard rushing barrier in the process. Bell has impressed coaches with his hard running and appears to be an ideal fit for the Broncos’ one-cut system. He also is a Denver native and a lifelong Broncos fan.
How you perform in practice goes a long way in Shanahan’s book. Tatum Bell throughout his career has shown flashes of brilliance followed by inconsistency. One practice last week saw him rip off a 65-yard TD. He followed that up with two fumbles lost near the goal line. It’s clearer than ever that Shanahan views Tatum Bell strictly as a 10-15 touches per game back.
While it’s early August and people need to be aware of not overreacting to this news, also realize the Broncos have turned worse into stars. Terrell Davis was a sixth-round pick. Reuben Droughns was a backup fullback. Even Vanilla Ice is embarrassed calling Olandis Gary a one-hit wonder. Last year 32-year-old fullback Mike Anderson ran for over 1,000 yards and 12 TDs. And maybe most improbable of all, the system even had people drafting Ron Dayne in the mid-rounds this year, me included.
What this now means is Mike Bell becomes a high-risk, high-reward mid-round fantasy pick. Then again, so is Tatum Bell. As for Ron Dayne, at this point he can probably be taken third of the bunch, but he can’t be completely counted out. Personally, I’m staying away from the whole situation, which screams committee. While Mike Bell is by all means having the most impressive camp so far, Shanahan could just as easily be using this as a motivational tactic.
“It is very close, and it could change day by day, week by week, but we felt like Mike deserves a chance to work with the first team and take a look to see if he can keep it,” Shanahan said.
On a side note, I want to congratulate Yahoo! Sports for not having Mike Bell in their system Monday. Way to go guys, you wreaked havoc all across fantasy nation with your oversight. I hope your system was flooded with hateful e-mails. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go pick up Cedric Cobbs.
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