Detroit Lions Stock Report: Week 2
By Kent Platte
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Lions are 0-2 and there isn’t anything positive to spin off of that. Matthew Stafford may miss some time with injury heading into the toughest two game stretch of the season of weeks 3 and 4. The 2015 season has gone nearly as bad as it possibly could, barring a stadium explosion. That doesn’t mean there are no positives, as we outlined some of them last week. Their loss to the Vikings was more disheartening than the loss to the Chargers, but there is still plenty to talk about good and bad.
Stock Down: Joique Bell
Joique Bell has been a fan favorite since he first put on a Detroit Lions uniform. He outperformed Mikel Leshoure in 2012 enough to make him expendable, and when Reggie Bush was injured in 2013 he stepped up to end the season. There are some key inconsistencies that always made me hesitate with Joique Bell, enough so that his extremely slow start to 2015 isn’t really surprising.
More from Lions News
- Top 5 revenge games on the Detroit Lions 2023 schedule
- Lions center Frank Ragnow optimistic about continuing to play through toe injury
- Detroit Lions 2023 preseason schedule: Dates, times and opponents
- A new contract extension projection for Lions quarterback Jared Goff
- Louis Riddick thinks Lions wide receivers will be fine without Jameson Williams
I’m not going to kick a guy when he’s down, so I’ll stick specifically to this year’s performance, this week. Like Abdullah and Stafford, Bell wasn’t getting any help from his offensive line against the Vikings, but unlike the other two it wasn’t entirely the line’s fault. On one play in particular where Bell ran up the middle following
Michael Burton, Bell inexplicably hesitated at the line rather than following his blocker who had opened a nice hole for him. This turned what might have been a decent gain into only a yard or two.
This kind of unforced mental error would happen again later in the game on the ill-advised, idiotic, awful play call for the 2 point conversion (more on that later). Bell only needed to get two yards. The blocking wasn’t there, but his lack of burst made it look like he wasn’t even putting up a fight. Coming off two surgeries this offseason, whether or not he could regain his burst was a big question mark and so far it looks like he has not. Will he before Zach Zenner overtakes him in this lineup?
Next: No Longer a Rookie