Finding Room for Travis Bell

It was clear back on the final day of the draft how much Bears GM Ryan Poles liked Travis Bell.

"This is probably one of my favorite human beings," Poles said then. "He is a special person. I didn't want him to leave after his 30 visit (to Halas Hall) and he didn't want to leave, either. There's something different about this guy."

It doesn't appear Bell would be leaving any time soon, at least based on what they're still saying about him, even as he competed with draft picks Gervon Dexter Jr., Zacch Pickens, Justin Jones and Andrew Billings.

Despite being only 6 feet tall, the 310-pound Bell has been impressing coaches in a battle for one of the interior defensive line roster spots. He showed up in games with three tackles on running plays and half a sack, which places him in a good position while battling Bravvion Roy, among others, for a job.

The numbers crunch and versatility of the defensive ends still work against him. The Bears will slide some of their defensive ends inside in pass rush situations and take away the need for as many tackles on a roster, but Bell is giving them pause for thought at the very least.

Defensive line coach Travis Smith sees a player despite the lack of ideal size.

"I think it's a small school, late draft pick, and he's undersized technically from a height standpoint," Smith said. "What I love about him is that doesn't matter to him. That doesn't bother him."

Production and not reputation is key and he hasn't disappointed.

"The thing about it is when you're in there, you got to knock it back," Smith said. "You got to disrupt. You cannot get moved. When you watch him in there, even at the end of the game when they were in four-minute mode, he's not getting knocked back, he's straining vs. double-teams, he's playing with good pad level, he's got quick feet right there."

Some players can do this at a college level but when they get to an NFL camp they find it difficult to pull it off again. Bell apparently has found a way to make it work.

"It's about the heart in here," Smith said. "He has proved that he has constant production from a pass rush element, no matter what team and system he has been on, no matter what–he has been in multiple systems, it did not matter."

Bell's size hasn't let offensive linemen bully him in the run game.

"The one thing is about his ability to shoot his signature rush and get to the X," Smith said. "And also he still, it's not just a one-trick pony, it's playing the run, setting edges, playing violent playing vertical, and finishing on the ball in the run game.

"So I think if you look at that and you watch his resume, it has been consistent. It’s not one year on, two years off. It has been consistent for the six, seven years he has played."

At least at practices and in camp, the Bears place great emphasis production and less on measurables.

"I was taught when I was growing up as an assistant to never put a ceiling on a man and that's the same thing," Smith said. "I don't care. He might be 6-foot but you're playing like Calais Campbell in there if you've got the right heart and the right disposition in there with great pad level, and make sure they don't move you, you move them."

Words are cheap until actual cuts are made but that kind of endorsement doesn't come casually. Seventh-round picks are never locks to make an NFL roster, yet what Poles said about Bell back on the draft seems to still apply based on what they've seen in camp.

"There’s just something about him," Poles had said about Bell. "Something special about the human being and the energy that he has and the passion for the game, you can just tell (he's) a good person that you want around."

With roster cuts approaching, it's a good quality to have.

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