Wide receiver David Bell was a first-team All-American, and Fred Biletnikoff Award winner after catching 93 passes during his final season at Purdue, but that didn’t help him land in the first round of this year’s draft.
Bell wound up going to the Browns in the third round and a lackluster performance at the Scouting Combine likely contributed to him being around at that point. He ran a 4.65 40-yard dash and had low numbers in other drills, but that hasn’t stopped the Browns from envisioning a role for him right off the bat.
Bell told reporters that the team has told him to prepare for work in the slot, which is where Jarvis Landry — who also failed to impress at the Combine — used to play for the Browns before his departure earlier this offseason.
“They just said, ‘You’re going to be in the slot a little bit this year, so get adjusted to the playbook and make sure you know what to do and when to do it,’” Bell said, via the team’s website. “I’m really just looking forward to the opportunity. . . . At first, it’s going to be a little challenging, but once I get the repetition and be on the field and do it on the field with players around me, I think I’ll be good.”
Bell’s got a pretty clear path to the slot receiver job if he picks things up quickly and that will give him a chance to show his on-field production matters more than drills in Indianapolis earlier this year.