It’s a very safe bet that, if you’re reading this, David Bell is faster than you. The standout Purdue wide receiver was considered among the top-tier wideouts in the 2022 class … until he went down the street to Lucas Oil Stadium and participated in the NFL Scouting Combine.

The Indianapolis native “stayed home” to attend Purdue. Bell rolled into West Lafayette and produced. His 1,000-yard receiving season as a true freshman put him on the prospect radar. He and Rondale Moore formed an onerous duo for Big-10 defenses in 2020. Moore was the gadget dynamo, the athletic freak. Bell was the squeaky-clean X receiver who stole cornerbacks’ lunch money. Moore moved on to the Arizona Cardinals in 2021, while Bell marched forward and breezed through another massive season for the Boilermakers. If Bell’s game could be summed up in one word, it would be consistent.

“But he’s too slow …” is the mantra of the analytics crowd, their RAS-weighted calculators whirring in disapproval. No, Bell isn’t a speedster. Most wide receivers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including the greatest of all time, had their mere existence questioned over a lack of top-end speed. Bell’s 4.65 40-yard dash is comparably slow for a wide receiver, but it doesn’t matter. Today’s best receivers, Cooper Kupp and Davante Adams, are athletic clones of Bell. Both of them had to answer questions about their lack of speed as young professionals.

Kupp put it best: “Speed is a luxury, but quickness is a necessity.” Adams fought through “bad hands” and “injury-prone” labels before breaking out in his third season with Green Bay. Jerry Rice was even slower than Bell, coming from Mississippi Valley State. Why would I compare Bell to all three of these greats? Bell is similarly great at playing football.

David Bell Draft Profile

* Recruit Stars via 247Sports

2022 NFL Draft Projection: Rounds 2-4.5

David Bell College Statistics

David Bell Dynasty Fantasy Analysis

Below-average athletes do have an unruly hill to climb to stick in the NFL. Other measurables are shared by Bell and wildly successful NFL wide receivers who tested poorly. Bell’s breakout age is 18.7, according to PlayerProfiler.com (94th percentile). During his true freshman season in a very tough Big Ten conference, Bell was unguardable. He sustained elite production and team target share through three seasons, with Purdue’s quarterback play ranging from poor to fair. Bell is an ace at getting open.

I certainly have doubts that Bell will ever be a “big play” threat in the NFL, but that has never been his game. He still stacked corners with ease on vertical routes without blinding speed. Bell has the most developed arsenal of release moves in the 2022 class in press coverage. He is extremely intelligent and savvy on the field as well. Good football players often make the right plays, and Bell’s calling card is punching the clock and getting dirty. Great wide receivers without elite athleticism, like Kupp, understand the game at the level of a good coach. Bell is the next in line with extreme intelligence at the position.

His hands are vice grips. His technique is also top-shelf in this class. The only drops seen on tape were rare concentration drops plaguing nearly every college player. I would like to see Bell use his size better to shield defenders away from the catch point and expand his catch radius. Don’t mistake this for fear of crossing the middle of the field. Bell thrives on crossing routes and leverages double moves from the slot, never shying from contact. He is also very slippery after the catch, with ample acceleration and quickness to make tacklers reach and miss. His contact balance is well above average. Aside from having breakaway speed, Bell resembles a running back as a ball carrier.

I am targeting Bell as early as the end of the first round in dynasty rookie drafts. He is ranked as my WR5 in this class, at the second tier’s top. His Underdog ADP for best ball drafts is 138.3, which means I can get immediate value as a potential flex starter from a 12th-round pick. I consider Bell to be the most pro-ready receiver in this class, with the lowest factor of landing spot dependency. He displayed a fully developed route tree at all three receiver positions (X, Z, and slot) at Purdue, a desirable trait for nearly every NFL team.

Speed kills. It’s a beautiful luxury to have. Speed blinds. You would run out of breath before listing all the combine heroes who fizzled out in the NFL because they couldn’t get open or catch the damn ball. Football is a simple game on the surface, with a wanted ad out every year for the greatest gladiators. Sometimes, the technicians with the sharpest tools emerge as the heroes on the battlefield. Bell lives in the nuanced folds of this beautiful game. If you blink, you’ll miss his quick ascent to greatness.

Player Comp

Keenan Allen

Keenan Allen is almost synonymous with “underappreciated.” He was an elite producer at UC-Berkeley from his freshman season on. He helped turn an ultra-conservative program, in the darkest depths of quarterback play between Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff, into an exciting contender. His 4.71 40-yard dash at the Cal pro day and a PCL injury his senior season sunk him into the third round of the 2013 draft. Sound familiar? Bell is cut from the same cloth that has seen Allen produce five 1,000-yard seasons in the NFL.

Landing Spot and Dynasty Outlook

David Bell slipped to round three after a lackluster combine performance. Lackluster might be too kind after Bell posted a 34th percentile speed score and 20th percentile burst score. All of that aside, he finished with 86th percentile or higher collegiate target share and breakout age marks. His landing spot with an offense that Deshaun Watson will eventually lead is quite good. While Amari Cooper was acquired as the number one option, Bell can compete immediately for targets behind him. Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz have not proven to be anything more than splash play artists at this juncture. For all of his immense talent, David Njoku has never been a focal point of the passing attack. Bell’s testing numbers will push down his ADP to a point where he’ll be a value in most drafts, potentially being Watson’s number two option as early as this season.

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