Dolphins have an X-factor who can blow the doors off the Raiders in Week 1

It's going to be a long season for the Miami Dolphins, or at least that's the widely held assumption across the NFL landscape/fan-scape. But at least for one game, Week 1 could provide a jolt of feral, untamed optimism in Las Vegas against the Raiders.

You see, the Raiders aren't expected to be all that good either. They may be home favorites by default, but their personnel doesn't match up so well with Miami.

One of the presumptive weak points of the Dolphins' roster, though, is the wide receiver corps. That view may change in short order if rookie third-round pick Chris Bell has anything to say about it in the season opener.

Miami Dolphins rookie Chris Bell could absolutely devastate the Raiders' secondary in Las Vegas

If not for a torn ACL he suffered during his final season at Louisville, Chris Bell was almost universally viewed as a first-round talent. The Dolphins had a surplus of draft picks (13) and a serious need at his position, so they took a chance on him with the 94th overall pick.

Bell could've easily justified redshirting this year while Miami endured the growing pains of a rebuild. Instead, he attacked his rehab with a vengeance, got himself off the PUP list, and was so ready to roll that the Dolphins got him some run in the preseason finale, where Bell caught two passes on five targets for 22 yards.

That's not exactly a light workload. You don't target somebody five times in a live game situation without being confident in his physical capacity to handle it. Bell also played the X, Z, and slot positions, so the Dolphins have the confidence that he can line up anywhere.

How many other players in their wide receiver room have the skill set to do that? I'd plumb for zero. And mind you, Bell is listed at 6'2", 228 pounds.

Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said a while back that Bell was clocking some "wild" GPS numbers — again, about eight months removed from ACL reconstructive surgery! — via the Palm Beach Post's Joe Schad:

"He's a really fast dude. He's hit some wild numbers on GPS, considering his size. He's got great hands. He's a tough tackle. So I mean, you could do a lot of things with that. "As far as the receiver goes, he's a good ball in hand player. He's a good guy that can make competitive catches. He can go down the field and he can run underneath routes. I think the more we get used to just being with him we'll kind of settle into what exactly his role is going to be for us. But from his college tape there's not many limiting factors as far as what we're going to let him at least explore."

It feels like nobody really realizes how large Bell's Week 1 role could be. It's not like he has a ton of elite competition to snipe targets from. New quarterback Malik Willis should have a full-on committee of pass-catchers to throw to, and Bell, to me, is by far the most naturally gifted of the entire bunch.

Jalen Tolbert is a solid contested-catch guy but has a reputation for struggling to create separation. Slot specialist Malik Washington had three catches for 15 yards in limited preseason action. That's not far off from his typical, laughable average of 7.5 yards per catch.

The other rookies at Bell's position are Kevin Coleman Jr. and Caleb Douglas. Coleman was a Day 3 selection who's firmly behind Washington (for now) as the pure slot man.

Despite Douglas exceeding many expectations in training camp to earn a starting role, he was still considered to be a massive reach by the greater draftnik community. It's almost annoying to bring up that talking point due to how prevalent it is and how much it defines Douglas' narrative as a player up till now.

And who's in the Raiders' secondary, by the way? Rookie Treydan Stukes is at free safety after mostly playing in the slot during college. That figures to be a big adjustment.

Eric Stokes is decent, yet he has only one career interception and a long list of injuries. Darien Porter is the CB2 on the boundary and was a six-year player at Iowa State who had only one season of experience starting at corner.

I don't know. Doesn't sound like a very stiff test to me. While I wouldn't expect a high volume of targets for Bell in Week 1, look for him to get at least a few balls thrown his way from Malik Willis, and for him to rip off at least two big gains. Maybe even a long touchdown.

Sure seems Bell is healthy enough to be his usual self, given Slowik's testimony and what Bell showed in the preseason finale versus Atlanta. He can score from anywhere on the field. Buckle up, y'all.

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