Mike Bell to visit??? [Bell Signed, Mitchell cut]
 

rumor: Adam Caplan, of Scout.com, reports free-agent RB Mike Bell (Broncos) is scheduled to work out for the Houston Texans.

well, the precedent has been set on exBroncos visiting Texans, so, no big surprize he's visiting. but, I don't see him replacing the RBs already in camp.

Nah. Me either.

No linkage yet, but it sounds like Bell will be a Texan.

chron.com reports that Bell was signed and Brandon Harrison was cut.

Wait, I thought his tryout was tomorrow. Was that just code for physical? And the other RB's just a smoke screen.

I doubt he wins a job here anyway. Most likely just a body, and probably the most familiar with the off. That means alot, especially at this time of year.

EDIT

I guess so then.

Surprising, but I always felt Brandon Mitchell was the better talent of the two Brandons at safety.

Harrison was the Stanford one right?

I wonder if Bell was signed as a camp body or if he is here to push Brown for his spot given Brown's commitment lately. Or maybe Chris Taylor isn't working out as the RB/FB hybrid, because, otherwise, Bell would be a bit rendundant.

Right. Very surprising.

********

Let's see, Bell:

Denver reject - check

Battled injuries last year - check

He's in!

Sarcasm aside, he could be here just for training camp legs..

I think he is here for the legs, and maybe push for the last RB spot.

I'm happy we signed him. You guys are gonna love this guy.

This means adios to Chris Brown in a matter of days.

Megan Manfull's take on it

I found the bolded curious...

Next on my list...John Lynch.

I don't care what you guys say, he can still stuff the run extremely well. And leave a bruise. We sign him, I think we're goning to the SB.

super bowl? really?

their whole defense looked pretty shoddy last year....and since he's in the paper as "considering retirement for studio anchor job" i'd say he's probably not going to be on the texans.

i'm kind of surprised at the release of brandon harrison. he must've been doing terrible because there are worse players than him floating around the bottom of the texan barrel.

I never saw enough of Harrison to have an opinion of him. I had high hopes for him when he was drafted, mainly because we had a dearth of young talent at the safety position. I actually saw a chance for him to do what Diles has done--get to be a solid player and push for starter.

I have to wonder whether the Texans knew of his plans to show up late last year. If they did, they must have had a very high opinion of him, seeing that it would probably mean he would be way behind in his development.


Since we drafted him, we have acquired Demps, who I think the coaches really like. Then this year we added Barber, and I guess they must be liking him too. So it came own to a numbers game for Harrison.

Assuming they don't bring him back, I think this makes him the highest draft pick Kubiak/Smith have missed on.

I was too, but S was a pretty crowded spot. One of the chron writers said Mitchell had passed Harrison.


Kubiak wants to keep Green fresh (read: not injured yet). It' hard to do that if one of the RB's is going to miss an extended time in camp (read: Brown).

I think that this is all just a numbers game. If the Texans decide to get rid of Brown....and Harrison is still around he could be back.

I am now reading that it is Brandon Mitchell, not Harrison, who was cut. Apparently the Chron made the mistake. I believe that's the second snafu they've had this week, the first one being the PUP list. Somebody over there needs to roll heads IMO. I guess their procedure now is just put something up and wait till someone calls them and tells them they screwed up.

Yeah, it was Mitchell that was cut.

Mistake of biblical proportions by the Chronicle. Seems they had a hard time mixing up the two Brandons like most people....

Okay, so I am less surprised now to know that it was Mitchell cut, but I still thought he was the better of the two Brandons.

I guess the least surprising thing here is that the Chronicle Sports department goofed yet again.

our newest "set of legs"

Mike Bell- 6'0'', 225 lb., 4.6 40 yard dash, 21 bench presses (225. lb), 33 inch vertical, 9.6 broad jump, went to arizona

in his only real year of running the ball 677 yards on 157 attempts for a 4.3 per carry average. caught it 20 times for 8 yards a pop. 8 td, 1 fumble.

i think he's here for more than just practice reps. father shan moved him to fullback in 07 and he fell off. maybe kubiak is looking for the hb/fb hybrid like nero mentioned. maybe chris brown is about a back spasm from getting cut. maybe we'll just keep trying to find the overachieving rb that no one expects. maybe the denver pipeline thing is getting weird...

Not curious at all. Look in Wikipedia under Chris Brown #22 RB Texans

No, curious because the first part of the sentence ("It's hard to predict who will be on this team when the season starts at running back") translated = I'm not a prognosticator - followed up by ("because one or two players are going to eliminate themselves with injuries.") translated = OK, yeah I am a prognosticator. A little bit of double speak from Manfull who is usually one of the Chronic's more objective journalists...

We all know what she means: we now have Green, Brown, Taylor and Bell who have all been plagued by injury before and could go down with injury at any time. She just presented it a little strangely, IMO....

I try not to get too upset at the chron....it's become a sport in Houston to tear apart everything they do, even though some of it deserves it.

Mistakes like saying the wrong guy were cut are just inexcusable. I know they have the same first name, but you think since they know that they would make sure to double check.

The really bad part is I know in one of the blog comments (that I can't find now) one of the writers responded to one of the comments about how Mitchell had really started to step up and passed Harrison. In other words they just make it up as they go.....:mad:

if i'm reading the chronicle for sports it's usually to kill time by making fun of richard justice or john mcclain. there are a couple writers who do fine but those two are usually covering the main stories so the subject catches my attention but the stuff they type out just makes me laugh sometimes.

HEY WAIT A MINUTE! The article said Brandon MITCHELL, not Harrison was cut.

not untill the chron fixed their mistake....

Maybe so, but my home delivered comical said Brandon Mitchell. I hope the other Brandon stays the course, but he's got a tough row to hoe, with both C.C. Brown and Glenn Earl returning. Not too likely to carry 3 S.S.'s. Demps and Ferguson look to have the inside track on our version of F.S.

A numbers game cut...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/5931910.html
Texans waive RB Bell to make room for OT Tucker
By JOHN MCCLAIN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

One day before they begin the preseason schedule against Denver at Reliant Stadium, the Texans placed former Broncos running back Mike Bell on waivers and signed free agent offensive tackle Torrin Tucker.

When Bell was signed last week because of Chris Brown's back injury, he showed up out of shape, then suffered a hamstring injury and wasn't able to participate in practice.

Because of injuries, the Texans are desperate for offensive linemen, especially tackles. Tackle Ephraim Salaam (knee) and Scott Jackson (foot) and guard Fred Weary (leg) are out.

Tucker, 28, will be entering his fifth season. The 6-6, 315-pound tackle entered the NFL with Dallas and played for Oakland and Tampa Bay.