2022 NFL Draft: Wide Receiver Deep Dive - David Bell

  

David Bell - Purdue

Overview:

Strengths:

1. Physicality - Bell can win with physicality whether it is hand fighting at the line, boxing out for contested catches, running though defenders after the catch, or holding onto the ball in traffic. He is strong, tough, and will win most contests.

2. Reliability - Good things happen when Bell is targeted. He rarely drops the ball, gets positive yardage on screens, knows how to find a hole in zone, and can contort his body to make a difficult catch. He is not a flashy route runner, but will seemingly always get the job done.

Weaknesses:

1. Deep Separation - Bell can come down with the ball in contested catch situations, but almost never gains deep separation from the slot or outside. A lot of this comes from lack of top end speed after gaining a step with a good initial move.

2. Route Breaks - Bell plays high, which means that he rarely sinks his hips for power out of a route break. He has other methods of selling false routes, but lacks acute change of direction and first step power to gain separation out of his breaks.

Grade: Late Second

David Bell is a very solid all-around wide receiver, but he is a clear tier below the consensus top receiving options of the 2022 draft class.

Film:

Iowa (10/16/2021): 11-240-1

Slow off the line with an unnecessary false step. Drop step when no false step. Excellent hand fighting to get positioning advantage. Really looks like a basketball player (Example clip below). Solid blocking. Excellent release on the drag. Great contact balance. Makes defenders miss with basketball moves. Not excellent route running, but solid on short and intermediate routes with a diverse route tree. Focuses on one shoulder when blocking, allowing him to control the movement of defenders. Outstanding catch fully extended. Not light on his feet when accelerating linearly off the line. Knows how to gain separation from rounded routes by using the defender's hips against him. Great with contact at the line and after the catch. Fantastic quick jab three yards out to gain separation. Found holes in zone well.

Ohio State (11/13/2021): 11-103-0

Great with contact. Stutter gains no separation, but he knows how to box out. Frequent drop step. Often given too much respect deep and can get open on quick and intermediate routes. Physical runner, but not exceedingly elusive. Not much deep separation. Knows how to sell routes and turn defenders' hips despite lacking suddenness. Excellent contested catch. Good sideline awareness. Dropped an easy touchdown, which is very surprising.

Notre Dame (09/18/2021): 7-64-0

Nice split step into cut. Great physicality as usual. Nice route to sit open by the boundary. Wide open over the middle verses zone, but not seen by the quarterback. Gets positioning on quick slants into press. Sells routes with his head well. Excellent through contact. Incredible deep reception off of a great release from the right foot hop that he likes to do so much (Seen below). Runs with scrambling quarterback to effectively improvise a broken play.

Minnesota (11/20/2020): 8-104-2

Keeps moving in short zone well. Sheds a tackle easily. No deep separation over the middle. Always knows when to curl to gain maximum separation. Not great release overall, but good hop step against press to gain a step. Outstanding contested touchdown catch. Willing blocker.

Notable Film:

This play resulted in a touchdown, but is a good opportunity to make a couple of observations. First, Bell has some odd habits out of his stance. On the touchdown route, he picks his front foot up after the ball is snapped and places it behind where it was initially before pushing off of the line. This slows down his release slightly, and is frequently seen throughout his tape. The odd thing is that the inefficient steps he takes on his release are inconsistent. From the same game, he has several clear drop steps after the ball is snapped (Example seen below). This is not detrimental to his game, but cleaning up his release will be beneficial at the next level.

Next, while his route breaks are sufficient, he is clearly not a sudden route runner. Notice that his hips hardly change levels throughout the entirety of the route. He cannot possibly be explosive without lessening the knee angle when planting, which is possible by sinking the hips. He gets to where he needs to be, but is no change of direction superstar. Finally, the best part about this route is how he sells the slant with his head. The corner fell for it hard, and could not get his hips back around in time to cover the ground back to Bell. This is seen frequently throughout his tape as well.

Coverage:

Press

Has a couple of good basketball-looking moves against press. Can generally gain position inside and use his body to guarantee the reception in traffic. Line release is quicker against press because there is an immediate threat, whereas he can be quite slow off the line at times when against other coverage types. He can generally get a step on a corner over the top, but his lack of speed prevents him from capitalizing on this as often. He is better at short and intermediate routes towards the inside where he can use his body to gain a positional advantage against a tight corner.

Jam Response (in Press)

Excellent into contact. If anything, this occasionally has slowed the cornerback down more than Bell on the route.

Soft Press

Gains inside positioning reliably, but not as much when going outside. It is easier to take advantage of his lack of sudden route running and release when there is no contact at the line. Gaining separation on rounded routes from soft press is more difficult, but he generally can gain better deep positioning for contested catches than he can against off coverage or tight press.

Squat

This coverage type is generally more effective against him. He can sell routes with his head, but not his hips. Good NFL corners will be able to react to where his route breaks lead because Bell typically lacks suddenness and shiftiness. He can always get physical and gain positioning for a contested catch, but he will rarely find much separation against squat coverage when opposing outside corners in the NFL.

Off

Off coverage results in quick passes to Bell, which then results in positive yardage. If not a quick pass, Bell knows how to work laterally and find separation when entering a new zone. If his route is deeper along the outside against off coverage, then he finds much less success.

Inside Zone

Bell knows how to find a hole in any zone. He knows when to turn for a curl, sit in space, or keep moving to maximize separation. He clearly knows how to read a defense.

Route Distance:

Behind LOS

Frequently used in the screen game. He is solid behind the line of scrimmage, generally using his physicality to work his way down the sideline, but should rarely be used out of the backfield barring a jet sweep or end around. He does make guys miss a good amount for someone of his stature, but it is not necessarily a strength of his game.

0-5 yards

Very inconsistent tape with his release. Some are awful, while others can be impressive. His release will determine how effective his short distance route running is, but his hands and physicality are always working in his favor.

5-10 yards

Excellent at finding a hole and sitting in this range. Knows exactly when to curl. Very consistently maintains separation against zone across games. Usually not too much separation on the outside into press or soft press, but almost always has inside positioning. Regardless of his route, he can almost always ensure that he makes contact with the ball first.

10-15 yards

Finds deeper holes in zone rather well too. Route running in this distance is rather strong despite lack of twitchiness. Bell had multiple breaks by this distance on many routes, and he could sell the false routes with his head movement quite well. Routes fifteen yards and under are generally where Bell finds the greatest separation.

15-20 yards

This is where Bell starts to fall off. A lack of top end speed affects his ability to exploit any steps he gains on the defenders. Routes with multiple breaks at this point take some time to develop, and he just is generally less reliable 15+ yards out despite his strong contested catching ability.

20+ yards

Does not get open over the middle frequently against zone, and rarely anywhere from the outside. Excellent at contested catches downfield, but that type of reception will not be reliable at the NFL level.

Blocking:

Willingness

Willing blocker, and usually effective. Much better against corners than linebackers, but will always make an attempt.

Technique

Generally goes after one shoulder. This works well against guys smaller than he is, but bigger guys can brush off his blocks quite easily the majority of the time. He will need to learn better technique at the next level, but he should pick it up rather quickly given his size, athleticism, and physicality.

Attributes:

Attributes		Grade (/10)	Notes
Separation	Short	6.5	Great at hand fighting and getting physical at the line. Can make one quick move to position himself in front of corners. Surprisingly good lateral acceleration at times seen inconsistently across his tape.
	Medium	7.5	Not exceedingly flashy, but very reliable.
	Deep	3.5	Rarely gains any deep separation from the slot or outside.
Release	Stance	6.5	Frequent false or drop steps. Feet further apart may cause Bell to need a slight reposition before accelerating. This should be correctable.
	Acceleration	5.5	He can accelerate off of the line quickly on occasion, but this an area that should improve with a better stance. His open field acceleration is adequate, but nothing special. This would likely cap at 7/10 based on his film if everything goes right in his development. Bell is seemingly a prospect who can only help himself at the combine.
	Hip Control	4.5	This can certainly be improved as it is difficult to tell from the tape if it is due to ability or playstyle, but Bell plays tall most of the time. His route running misdirection usually stems from his head and torso, his ability to make the first man miss usually results in both feet leaving the ground briefly, and he hard plants outside of his frame to change direction as opposed to sinking lower to decrease the knee angle. This is likely a tendency derived from his early basketball days, so working on hip fluidity will go a long way in improving his overall ability as a receiver.
Hands	Catch Reliability	8.5	Only 5 drops with 93 receptions. He almost always makes the difficult catch, and has reliable hands.
	Catch Radius	9	Bell can go up and contort his body to catch anything thrown in his general direction. Contested Catch - Airing the ball up for Bell is usually not a bad option. Not only does he know how to box out defenders to gain positioning whether it is a corner, safety, or linebacker, but he can also jump over people to high point a ball. This will not be as reliable in the NFL, but the ability is there.
Versatility	Starting Position	9	Incredible route tree from both slot and outside. Intelligent football player who knows how to use what the defense gives him from anywhere on the field, particularly on short and intermediate routes.
	Overall Skill Set	8	He is very solid after the catch, has a vast route tree, and can go up and high point a ball anywhere on the field. The only reason this is not above an 8/10 is because his route running in general is nothing special, and he rarely gets deep separation. All boxes are checked for overall skillset, but the points are docked purely based on execution. If Bell develops some of the weaker areas of his game, this could certainly become a 9+.
RAC	Athleticism	8	The former Marion County Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year by The Indianapolis Star certainly displays his athleticism on the field. His body control is incredible, but he has poor hip fluidity and twitchiness for an athlete with these accolades. He can improve in certain areas to utilize his athleticism more overall, but will never be that quick twitchy athlete that comes to mind when people mention raw athleticism.
	Agility	7	Surprisingly good agility after the catch. He frequently can make the first man miss. He will not dance between defenders with abrupt changes of direction, but he can run through people and contort his body to get the extra yards or touchdown. To make the first man miss, he almost always hops to the side or steps back powering off of his front leg before re-accelerating forward. He does not sink his hips when making moves and prefers leaving the ground over getting low on the initial move, which is fine for his playstyle and strengths in general, but a little more work on hip fluidity could still certainly improve this area of his game.
	Contact Balance	9	Forced 25 missed tackles in 2021. Extremely physical after the catch. Not only is he strong through contact, but he can generally gain his footing and continue making moves soon after shedding a defender.
Awareness	Sideline	8	Not too many sideline catches, but worked the sideline well on screens. Maintained balance along the sideline on some deep receptions as well.
	Defensive Scheme	8.5	Always seems to know when to turn around on curl routes from the slot to maximize distance from defenders. Adjusts route frequently to what the corner gives him on the outside.
	Improvisation	8	While not needed as much in the Purdue offense, Bell knows how to roll with a scrambling quarterback to extend the play.

Full Report:

Bell has a plethora of redeeming qualities. He is very physical, athletic, can make moves and break tackles after the catch, has great hands, can box out and high point balls in contested catch situations, knows how to read a zone, and is overall just a solid wide receiver. He is a versatile playmaker who teams will be able to use in many ways. He projects as more of an outside receiver, but will almost certainly be moved around a lot to receive different looks as he was in Purdue. That said, he lacks the hip fluidity and suddenness to be an elite route runner, and is also not best in class at any of his strengths. Bell is a solid player who will have a place in the NFL, but will likely not have an offense revolve entirely around him. He will be a very reliable receiver who can move the chains and make some big plays when necessary. Bell is a very reliable option, but will likely not be a superstar as a true X in the NFL. He will be able to help any team, but will not get nearly as many manufactured touches as he did in college. He is certainly worthy of a second round pick, but will probably not match the production of the consensus tier one receivers in the 2022 draft.

NFL Projection:

Bell will be drafted to be an outside receiver. He likely will not be the number one option depending on where he lands, but will be a solid versatile number two who can take snaps out of the slot as well as the outside. He will never end up as the highest paid receiver in the NFL, but he will make an offense noticeably better for a long time.