Oakland Raiders: Preseason Week 2 — Stock Up/Stock Down
By Nico Di Fede
Stock Down: Quinton Bell, DE
As a wide receiver turned defensive end just a year ago, its no surprise that Quinton Bell would be a project that has a long way to go and it’s been apparent while watching him in the pre-season.
Last week you could tell he was still extremely raw as a pass rusher, not having a pass rush plan and clearly having to adjust to the speed of the game despite his elite athleticism.
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This week his play actually improved, but a couple of boneheaded penalties is what got his name on this list. In the fourth quarter, Bell committed two penalties in two concurrent drives. One extended the drive, the other would have been costly in the regular season.
The first was a running into the kicker (punter) on fourth down which led to a first since it was 4th and 2. The drive went on to result in a touchdown on a 59-yarder to Cardinals rookie Andy Isabella.
On the next drive for the Cardinals, they drove the field for what would be the last drive of the game, and on fourth down, Bell was called for offsides.
It was declined since the Cardinals gained 22 yards on the play but had the Raiders made a stand there, it could have been big had it been in a real game.
Bell did not have a very good chance of making the 53-man roster as is, but he still needs to make drastic improvements if he is ever to get up to speed in the NFL with how far behind he is playing as a defensive end.