Obviously one of the major story lines coming out of the Arizona Cardinals big win over the Jacksonville Jaguars centered around Beanie Wells. Sadly the buzz wasn't around his 44 yards on seven carries (6.3 ypc) but instead on his two fumbles, one of which was lost. While the team is saying and doing all the right things right now, we've still got to wonder if this will be a lingering problem. To try and get a better perspective on Wells' past, we re-read his numerous scouting reports to try and see if he had problems holding onto the ball during his days at Ohio State.
Most scouting reports focused on the obvious issues that were fairly well known (ie injury risk and lack of experience catching the ball), but one scouting report we found dove all the way to 2006 when Wells was a sophomore at Ohio State. This is was CBS Sports listed:
His fumble issues were so bad in 2006 that he was buried on the bench and might have never gotten playing time if not for injuries to others ahead of him in the pecking order.
And more about when he get's sloppy with the ball:
Tendency to Fumble: Taking the ball up the gut, Wells will usually run with the ball secure. His problems happen when he tries to get too fancy bouncing outside, as he does not distribute the ball much and leaves it a bit exposed taking off for long distances. His fumbling was so bad in 2006 that the coaches greatly reduced his playing time until injuries hit the running corps. Eight of his 10 career fumbles have been recovered by the opposition.
Now it's worth mentioning that Wells learned to secure the ball during his collegiate days and there's no reason to think that he won't be able to do the same at the professional level. It's possible that both instances were a case of nerves considering that both of his 'fumblitis' cases came when he was adjusting to a much bigger stage and level of competition. Either way, Wells will have a close eye on him every time he touches the ball this Sunday and most likely for the foreseeable future.
Will this be an ongoing issue?