Joique Bell: Division II's best

Joique Bell
Running Back, Wayne State (Mich)
5'11", 220 lbs, 4.68 - 40
First name is pronouced "joyk"...Bell was the Division II Harlon Holl Award Trophy winner last season which is equivalent to the Heisman Trophy...he rushed for 2,094 yards and 29 touchdowns in 2009...he finished his career with 6,728 yards and 89 TDs...the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs have shown an interest...Bell is rated the 12th top running back by NFLDraftScout...

NFLDraftScout: "Lacks breakaway speed or second gear once in the open, but smaller defenders have a tough time tracking him down. Strong runner in trash who keeps legs churning until he's on the ground."

Bleacher Report: "Running back Joique Bell of Wayne State, a Division II school in Detroit, took a chance on a smaller school over bigger local schools like Michigan and Michigan State because they saw him as a safety, and Bell wanted to be a running back. In retrospect, Bell made the right positional choice -- factor in his return totals, and he's top ten in NCAA total yardage no matter the school.

Of course, that's the question: How do we look at Bell's NFL potential when all we have are his numbers against giants like Ferris State, Mercyhurst, Saginaw Valley and Findlay? No offense against those fine schools, or Wayne State itself, but it's generally tough to get a sense how a kid will do against the Baltimore Ravens if he's been facing players whose college careers will be the end of their football days.

That's where the Senior Bowl comes in. After he gained over 2,000 yards in each of his last two seasons, Bell got an invitation to Mobile, Ala., and immediately impressed the pro coaches, scouts and personnel people in attendance. After the third day of Senior Bowl practice, Ravens running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery told the Detroit Free Press that Bell had been, "as offensive skill guys [go], the most impressive guy."

"You see if a guy can make a guy miss when he's in the hole," Montgomery continued. "What I saw ... four times when he had the ball, he was able to front up a guy right in the hole and shake him and get out of there."