Bronco Billy Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 (edited) LINK Backup Bell: I can’t win Running back says coaches don’t believe in him By FRANK SCHWAB THE GAZETTE said he did not think he could win the job by the season opener Sept. 10. “I think they don’t think I can be the man, period,” Tatum Bell said. Tatum Bell said he thought he was having a good camp, aside from a couple of fumbles last week. Shanahan said he felt the same way. “I’ve been very pleased with Tatum, he’s had his best camp he’s had this year, and Tatum could win the job before the season starts,” Shanahan said. “So far Mike deserves a chance to start at that position and that’s why he’s got it.” Shanahan dismissed Bell’s impression that he wouldn’t have a chance to win the starting job. “If he doesn’t feel like he can win it, he probably won’t,” Shanahan said. “But if he feels like he can win it, he probably has a chance to win it.” In Bell’s mind, this is the third straight season he has been stonewalled. When Quentin Griffin lost the starting spot two years ago when Bell was a rookie, starting fullback Reuben Droughns was moved to tailback and given the top role. “I didn’t understand that,” Tatum Bell said. “They felt like I wasn’t ready, and I said, ‘OK, I’ll deal with that.’” Last year Droughns was traded to Cleveland and Mike Anderson — who missed all of 2004 with a groin injury — was named the starting tailback. Bell was his backup and gained 921 yards. Droughns gained 1,240 yards in 2004; Anderson gained 1,014 in 2005. After Anderson was released in March, Ron Dayne took over as the No. 1 back. “This year they let Dayne get the nod to be the man, so that (ticked) me off,” Tatum Bell said. “I was like, ‘OK, I have to work through that.’” Late last week, Tatum Bell was getting more repetitions with the starting offense and seemed on the verge of passing Dayne. Tatum Bell has passed Dayne on the depth chart, but Mike Bell passed both of them for the top spot after nine days of training camp practice. “I don’t think they trust me,” Bell said. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s coach Shanahan or B.T. (running backs coach Bobby Turner), it’s somebody up in the front offices that makes the decisions that I think doesn’t trust me. “I felt like I’ve been having one of my best camps. I was definitely going to get it, I thought I was going to be the man, for real. I feel like once I get the job, if I get it, I feel like it’s mine forever. I feel like I’d have really earned it. There wasn’t nothing given to me.” ******************************************************** So, we get Ashley Lelie version II. T Bell isn't the best RB on the field - so it must be that the coaches hate him rather than the facts that he's very sloppy carrying & catching the ball, that he gains 2 yards or less on half his carries, that once he gets any significant workload that his performance drops into the basement, and that he simply refuses to concern himself with blocking blitzing D players. The guy has a world of talent, no doubt. But he simply isn't a very strong runner - he goes down on first contact pretty easily and doesn't run through trash well at all. He wants to bounce everything to the outside when the Bronco running game is predicated on one cut to the second level & then running downhill from there. He doesn't like to block & is downright unwilling to do so. In short - in the DEN system, he has pigeon holed himself into nothing better than a CoP RB. His biggest downfall is the inconsistency running the football. Shanahan loves to grind other teams into the turf with long drives. When Bell rips off a long gainer followed by four 2 yard or less runs drives aren't sustained, and that drives Shanahan up the wall. T Bell had better toughen up, both mentally & physically, or he's going to find himself in another team's uniform next year. Edited August 9, 2006 by Bronco Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackass Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 T Bell had better toughen up, both mentally & physically, or he's going to find himself in another team's uniform next year. I wonder what kind of trade value he would have - if he would be better off in another system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I'd blame Shanny too. He always plays mind games with these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 “If he doesn’t feel like he can win it, he probably won’t,” Shanahan said. “But if he feels like he can win it, he probably has a chance to win it.” I find that's true of most people in competitive situations. T. Bell may have set himself up for one of them there self-fulfilling prophecies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I'd blame Shanny too. He always plays mind games with these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 I'd blame Shanny too. He always plays mind games with these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I wonder what kind of trade value he would have - if he would be better off in another system He's been in one of the best running offenses for the last three years...one quick cut, and up the field. And his YPC has been exceptional. Perhaps too many 2 yd, 3 yd, 0 yd, 1 yd , 16 yd type of carry lines? I have to assume Shanahan knows more than most speculators, and if he feels the element of surprise Bell brings with his scat-ability is missing when he plays every down, than Bell better bring something else to the table to be used a an every-down feature RB. It certainly must appear to the Broncos that what he currently brings (inability to break a tackle, fumbling, etc.) is less than adequate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime9287 Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Keep talking Tatum... Maybe he'll be in the doghouse by the end of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustOfBeenDrunk Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 send him some cheese to go with that whine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Pat!!! Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 How long till the Jets come calling?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Tatum starts complaining, and it pushes Mike Bell up my rankings a little further... at least in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Tatum starts complaining, and it pushes Mike Bell up my rankings a little further... at least in my mind. And Dayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 It's because he's black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 It's because he's black. So is M Bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House of Pain Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 OK Jay, just 15 seconds with the hot yenta wife.. Deal ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianfl Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Maybe Tatum can join Ashley. Those are pretty tough name anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 So is M Bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KordellStewartSucks4Life Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Tatum starts complaining, and it pushes Mike Bell up my rankings a little further... at least in my mind. I agree. This guy needs to shut up and play. Blaming Skeletor is not going to solve anything. I'm tired of these wining maggots. Nothing that a good or a or a wouldn't fix. Send this guy packing if he doesn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turf Smurf Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Maybe Tatum can join Ashley. Those are pretty tough name anyway Ashley Force.... She has more balls then 99.9 of the people here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Billy Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 Ashley Force.... She has more balls then 99.9 of the people here... Do you consider a female having testicles a desirable feature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Score 1 Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Seems like Tinker Bell has some fairly obvious character concerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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