Overview

Position: WR

College: Louisville

Class: Senior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’1 7/8”

Weight: 222 lbs.

Arm length: 31 3/4″

Hand size: 10”

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: N/A

10-yard split: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Prototype build and strength. Very explosive athlete. Springy and twitchy movement skills. Extremely physical overall player. Fast and dangerous on drag routes. Tremendous build-up speed with the ball and runs past defenders down the sideline when they take a poor angle. Good feel for running through the second window on slants. Makes tough catches going into traffic on slants. Huge hands and catches the ball very well. Will secure balls that get on him quickly underneath with a body catch. Strong bringing in throws on his back hip. Fast running deep over routes from the slot. Catches the ball in stride down the field. Excellent feel for where to attack holes in zone coverage. Big target on curl routes. Works back to the ball outside the numbers. Often used on stop routes from close slot alignment. Aware lunging for the line to gain on underneath passes. Competes for the ball at the catch point. Will sky for a deep ball with the safety bearing down. Shows he can hang in the air on simple high-point grabs. Good ability to adjust for the back-shoulder ball. Calmly gets his feet down near the sideline. Natural ability shown on one-handed, back-shoulder touchdown versus Virginia (2025). Destroyed Miami with a 9/136/2 line in a win (2025). Varied usage flipping between outside the numbers and in the slot. Highly impressive spatial awareness and fluidity as he turns into a runner. Aggressive getting downhill with the ball in his hands. Seems to hit a second gear to run away from defenders. Very strong after the catch. Exceptional balance and effort after the catch. Often takes multiple defenders to bring him down. Very fiery and competitive. Will connect as a blocker with tremendous impact. Can be fast and accurate into contact delivering a crushing block. Aggressive seeking opponents to hit as a blocker. Will sprint across the field to make a block. Won’t hesitate to try taking out bigger opponents in the open field.

 

Weaknesses

Still developing as a route runner. Release footwork versus the press can be too complex and inefficient. Struggles separating from press coverage on vertical stems. Not as fast trying to get on top of cornerbacks. Still learning how to stack cornerbacks effectively to get deep. Can get tied up by close coverage at the catch point further down the field. Has some drops by not fully securing the ball when contacted. Appears to show some discontent when he’s open and the ball goes elsewhere. Physical play style could lead to durability concerns. Coming off a torn ACL suffered at the end of November.

 

NFL comparison

Rashod Bateman

 

Conclusion

Overall, Bell is an extremely physical and dynamic wide receiver with a great combination of explosiveness, big-play ability, and competitiveness. The durability might be a concern, but Bell has room to be used even more creatively to get the ball in his hands.

 

Big Board ranking: #31 | Positional ranking: #8