David Bell was one of the most intriguing players in this draft class. He’s polarized the larger fantasy community. Bell was a 4-star prospect out of Warren Central high school in Indianapolis, IN. David Bell had a myriad of suitors from the the Big 10. He had offers from Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, but committed to Purdue. David Bell played for 3 years before he chose to come out. He’s one of the few junior receivers in this class.
David Bell broke out as a true freshman at Purdue. He had over 1,000 receiving yards at a staggering 12.0 yards per reception. His talent was undeniable as he had a 25.20% target share while only being 19 years old. Half of the games he played his first year as a Boilermaker he had over 100 receiving yards. The 2020 season was a down year for Purdue and a down year for David Bell. Inconsistent and ,at times, horrid quarterback play caused David Bell to have reduced receptions and receiving yards. Despite having lower numbers, Bell still led the Purdue receivers by a large margin. David Bell had nearly 20 more receptions than Rondale Moore, and over 300 more receiving yards than him too.
2021 was Bell’s final season as a Boilermaker. His production resembled what he accomplished as a true freshman. The astounding part of his production is the consistency. There was never a game where he had less than 6 receptions and in 7 of his 11 games he had over 100 receiving yards. Playing spoiler-maker on two occasions, David Bell caught 11 passes and over 200 receiving yards against Iowa and Michigan State. Both were in the top 5 when Purdue beat them.
At the combine, David Bell’s underwhelming workout metrics left fantasy analysts befuddled. Some think the combine was indicative of Bell’s low potential as he ran a slow 4.65 40 and was below average in the explosion drills. However, there’s a camp of people that believe his poor showing was an outlier because he had an 86th percentile target share and 94th percentile breakout age against power 5 conference competition.
David Bell was selected in the 3rd round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Regardless of his workout metrics, you can't argue he'll have WR competition in Cleveland. With Deshaun Watson coming in at QB, his ceiling is raised assuming he hasn’t lost a step. However, being on a run first offense with a good defense lowers his floor.
