A big week looms for Kenny Bell
Kenny Bell has been an enigma of perceived potential since the day he was drafted. After essentially a red-shirt freshman season with the Buccaneers, Bell has failed to separate himself this off-season from the other wide receivers fighting for roster spots. Time is running out.
The first time that I heard about Kenny Bell was during the 2015 pre-draft process, from one of my favorite draft writers, Matt Waldman. Waldman does a terrific on-going series of tape breakdowns and Bell’s was infatuating for any fan of wide receivers. The Nebraska senior looked like an electric, speedy wide receiver who simply needed a quarterback capable of getting him the ball. He was a willing and, at times, devastating blocker, a sharp route runner, and oh yeah, he had a world-class afro as well. How could you not fall in love?
Fast forward a couple of weeks and Bell was a Buccaneer, drafted in the 5th round. Bucs fans joined the Kenny Bell party and soon enough delusions of grandeur took hold like they do after every draft pick. Bell was going to be the heir apparent to Vincent Jackson and in the meantime a useful slot receiver with speed that the Bucs sorely lacked. I had bought fully in. It was hard to imagine Jameis Winston not having a solid connection with his training camp roommate, but training camp came for the rookie, and he struggled. Then preseason came, and Bell struggled as well. He ultimately would tear his hamstring and be placed on season-ending I.R., but hope lingered.
As it stands now, more than a year after he was drafted, the honeymoon for Kenny Bell is over. Bell has had a colorless training camp with some ups and downs but not nearly the consistency that the Bucs are looking for. In the teams first preseason game against Philadelphia, Bell fumbled the opening kickoff, recorded 2 penalties (one of which was dubious), and didn’t record a single catch. Despite this, his coach had a lot of promising words to say in regards to his play on offense:
"“Now I’m sure everyone is going to be crushing Kenny Bell. Kenny Bell, as far as offense goes, Kenny Bell beat his man multiple times and just didn’t get the ball thrown to him. On the very last drive, he ran a little double-move and was open, we overthrew him. There’s probably five plays in the game where Kenny did his job and got open. Sometimes he’s not the primary, but he did all he can do, he just didn’t get the ball thrown to him. Now unfortunately, we fumbled the opening kickoff and he had another penalty that hurt us on special teams on another play. But it’s one preseason game, we’ve had 11 other practices. In the next two weeks, we’re going to go six times, six days in the next two weeks against other teams. So there’s still plenty of evaluation to go.”More from Bucs NewsDevin White posts cryptic message to Lavonte David on TwitterUpdated Buccaneers depth chart after signing two players from rookie minicampTodd Bowles sends clear message about Baker Mayfield’s role with BucsThe Athletic is wrong about Bucs one ‘must-watch’ game in 2023Todd Bowles admits he only looks at three things on Bucs schedule"
Quarterback Jameis Winston had similarly positive words about the receiver:
"“I know Kenny is going to bounce back from that. That’s the least of my worries right now, especially dealing with Kenny Bell. That was my roommate last year. I know he has heart, I know he’s a fighter.”"
Despite the encouraging words from his coach and quarterback, Bell’s Buccaneer career is undoubtedly on life-support, and this coming week is likely the most pivotal week of his young career. The Bucs and Jaguars are set to have joint practices leading up to their game on Saturday night, giving Bell (and the other receivers he’s competing with) an opportunity to stand out against players wearing a different jersey.
While these are still just practices, you can be sure that Koetter and the coaching staff will value a catch versus Prince Amukamara or Jalen Ramsey just a bit more than they will a catch versus a familiar opponent like Alterraun Verner or Jude Adjei-Barimah
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With that said, not even a good week of practice will be enough. It’s under the bright lights of EverBank Field in Jacksonville where Kenny Bell’s Buccaneer career will live or die. Another catch-less evening may spell the end for the Afro in Tampa, but a multi-catch game without any drops or penalties can buy Kenny a roster spot.