Football is one of those fantasy sports where people always hate players they have been previously burned by.  I can count numerous times that I have been burned, seen the player on waivers and looked at him as an option that I would most likely pass on.  For me, that person as of late has been Joique Bell.  That was until I saw how he was being developed into the Cooter offensive system in Detroit.  The Cooter system sounds like some new down in the valley porn organization that does snuff films with deli meats.  Alas, it is not, and you can stop the google search there.  The deal with the Lions offense is that they need to go from this to that.  Now, this to that isn’t something that can just happen, it takes time.  Time Fantasy Football owners don’t really have when it comes down to the season being only 3-4 week longer (playoffs start different in leagues). So why should you invest a look at the Detroit RB situation and why is it something that may behoove you to re-invest some of that burned love toward one of the most commonly passed over options?
[graphiq id=”jXhznfZJ6dv” title=”Joique Bell Overview” width=”640″ height=”545″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/jXhznfZJ6dv” link=”http://football-players.pointafter.com/l/1354/Joique-Bell” link_text=”Joique Bell Overview | PointAfter”]
So the new O.C. has been in town for three games.  Big whoop.  I have been at Razz-nation since 2010 and I can tell you I am not getting and younger, smarter, or better looking.  But three weeks in the NFL is a big thing, especially when you are coming off a big-time win, albeit a shaky one, against a division rival. The Lions aren’t really going anywhere, but the personnel in place is still very fantasy relevant.  Enter Joique Bell, the forgotten man of Abdullah and the seventh son of the Riddick.  He was everyone’s lucky toy for parts of last year, and was being viewed this year as a sorta wind-catcher of sorts to be a nice RB3/4 come draft day.  Well, he really hasn’t, whether it be injury, game plan, or ineffectiveness, he just hasn’t been anything resembling a fantasy toy all year.  Except maybe ’til now.  The thing that intrigues me is the snap count for the Lions running back the past few games. Bell is basically even with both Riddick and Abdullah combined.  Granted, the Chiefs game was skewed heavily towards Riddick as it was a huge blow-out.  So I am throwing that game out and focusing merely on last week’s game.  Where Bell’s snap count was 39 to the other two who had 29 total.  Now, this could be happenstance or not, but guess what? I am right more than I am wrong.  It’s a trend in the right direction for Bell.
So entering Week 11, what has Bell really done fantasy wise?  The short answer is not much, in what has been a bad season all around for the Lions.  He hasn’t done much on the ground or in the air, but I can see him being an asset this week.  They face Oakland, an over-achieving offense who are still in the bottom-10 in both pass and run defense.  They have been destroyed on the ground the last two weeks to the tune of 458 yards.  To make it worse, they give up an average of 9 receptions for 54 yards per game to the opposing RB’s.  I am not going out on a long limb here and saying Joique is going to go all days of Mad Dog 20/2,0 but I am saying with the bye weeks and the rash of injuries making the waiver wire looked very watered down, don’t turn a scorned eye at Bell and trust he will be that RB2/Flex option you need this week.  Smokey Predicts: 15 Carries, 61 Yards 3 Receptions, 28 Yards, 1 Touchdown.Â
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