To help offset the loss of rookie running back Mikel Leshoure who is done for the season due to a torn Achilles, the Lions signed free agent running backs in Jerome Harrison and Mike Bell.
Both players entered the NFL back in 2006 with Harrison being Cleveland’s fifth-round pick out of Washington State and the Denver Broncos signing Bell as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona.
Bell is listed at 6 feet and 225 pounds while Harrison is 5-9 and 205 lbs.
Career wise Harrison was a four year starter with the Browns before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles halfway through his fifth year in 2010. Harrison’s best season was 2009 where in 14 games and seven starts rushed for 862 yards on 194 carries, with a 4.4-yard average and five touchdowns. That same year Harrison had one of the greatest single performances in NFL history rushing for 286 yards and three TDs in a 41-34 win at Kansas City.
Overall Harrison has 1,640 rushing yards and seven TDs, and 69 receptions for 487 yards and three TDs.
Bell has spent time with the Broncos, Saints, Eagles and Browns with his single best season also coming in 2009. That year he rushed for 654 yards and five TDs for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
For his career, Bell has 1,475 yards rushing and 14 TDs.
To make room for both Bell and Harrison the Lions waived rookie fullback Preston Dial of Alabama and injured cornerback Maurice Leggett, a fourth-year player who had signed as a free agent.
If Leggett clears waivers he will be placed on the injured reserve.
Source: Fox Sports Detroit
