The NFL trade deadline passed yesterday and Tatum Bell is still a Lion. Now the real question is "Is that a good thing?"At this point in the season it probably doesn't matter, for several reasons.
First, the Lions don't run the ball. Period, End of story. For some reason we all thought that by trading for Bell Mike Martz would forget all about his days in St. Louis and turn into a run-first coach. For that, we are all looking pretty stupid right now. Bell is averaging only 8.8 carries per game, one of the lowest per game averages for a starter in the NFL. He does catch the ball well out of the backfield, but so does Avieon Cason.
Second, when he carries the ball he is highly ineffective. Despite his lofty 4.4 yards per carry, he has only 182 yards and 1 TD. He is averaging only 36.4 yards per game, some of this can be attributed to his lack of carries but most of it can be attributed on his inability to forget that he is not in Denver and that he is going to have to make more than one cut when getting past the offensive line.
Finally, Kevin Jones appears to be healthy. When KJ is healthy he is by far the best running back on the Lions roster, both running and catching the ball. Jones has been getting the bulk of the carries, if there is such a thing in our offense, the last two weeks. The disparity was especially noticeable last two weeks ago against the Redskins when Jones got 11 carries to Bell's 4.
Bell has been nothing short of a bust so far this year and while trading him for a mid-round draft pick may not sound too smart with Duckett still not running at full speed, it might not have been a bad idea. Chalk up another brilliant move for Matt Millen.
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