by Andy Kent

Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East

When the Buffalo Bills take on the Detroit Lions Thursday night at Ford Field, there will be more eyes on unheralded rookie running back Joique Bell than on Buffalo’s first-round pick at that position, C.J. Spiller. Being as this is the last preseason game for both teams, it also should be the last time Bell will be able to boast about that.

Spiller has been grabbing all the headlines since taking more of an active role in the running game after veterans Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch both went down with injuries in Buffalo’s preseason opener. But Thursday night will be Bell’s time to shine and he will have lots of fans cheering him on, as Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com wrote Thursday.

Not only did Bell grow up in the neighboring town of Benton Harbor, Michigan, but the 5-foot-11, 220-pound power back played his college football at Division II Wayne State. The entire Warriors team along with other students from the school are expected to be in attendance waving the school’s colors. Bell confirmed that the campus is only about two or three minutes away from the stadium by car.

“They’re texting, Facebook, calling,” Bell told Brown. “They’re telling me that I’m making them proud back in Detroit, and that they’re excited about the game. Just a lot of positive messages.”