David Bell

Former wide receiver at Purdue. 2021: 93 catches, 1,286 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Purdue · So. · #3

6′2″ · 205 lb · Indianapolis, IN

CFB Index 91 · #12 of 468 WRsHigh confidenceConsensus AACleveland — drafted 2022, Rd 3, Pick 35, #99 overall

On production he ranks #12 of 468 WRs; on reputation he is a consensus All-American. The gap between those two numbers is the story.

Recruiting

4★

WR recruit

No. 113 nationally · Signed with Purdue

Statement game11 rec · 217 yds · 1 TDvs Michigan State (FBS) · W 40-29

Top 0.1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Purdue. 2021: 93 catches, 1,286 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Purdue in 2019.
Drafted round 3 by the Cleveland in 2022.
Named All-America (AFCA) in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Purdue, 2,946 receiving yards, a Consensus All-American season (2021) — drafted at #99 overall by Cleveland.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

The week the volume broke through — put up 240 yds at Iowa.Iowa · W 24-72021

201912 games

Signed with Purdue4-star out of Warren Central

20206 games

The snaps went the other way.

All-Big Tenfirst

202111 games

All-Americafirst · 8 selectors
All-Big Tenfirst
Big Ten Richter–Howard Receiver of the Yearwinner

2022

Drafted by Clevelandround 3, pick 99

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#113 national

CFB

College

Purdue

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #99

Cleveland · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

12 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2021)

6 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

1 coach

2019–2021

Jeff Brohm

Purdue

Played his entire career under Jeff Brohm.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

ClevelandEntering 5th NFL season

#99Rd 3 · Pick 35

ClevelandEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Jeff Brohm — 15-16 over that span.

2019Purdue4-8HC: Jeff Brohm · Pass-leaning

2020Purdue2-4HC: Jeff Brohm · Pass-heavy

2021Purdue9-4HC: Jeff Brohm · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

91All-America level #12 of 468?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (98th percentile). Strength: rec yards (97th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / target#172 / 655 · 74th pct

0.85

Explosive rate#184 / 655 · 72nd pct

16.9%

Yards / catch#211 / 655 · 68th pct

14.0

Catch rate#292 / 655 · 55th pct

77.1%

TD rate#361 / 655 · 45th pct

5.1%

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#11 / 557 · 98th pct

Rec yards#15 / 557 · 97th pct

1286

Rec TDs#71 / 557 · 84th pct

Rush yards#65 / 273 · 76th pct

Long catch#163 / 557 · 70th pct

Yards / catch#233 / 557 · 58th pct

13.8

Rush TDs#57 / 273 · 40th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	7.4	117	15.0	0.4
Road6g	9.3	117	12.8	0.7

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	7.6	136	17.6	0.8
Weeks 8+6g	9.2	101	10.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Barry Odom

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

91 · #12 of 468 WRs

Former four-star. Now #12 at the position.

Selector Grid · 2021

AP—

FWAA1st

AFCA1st

WCFF1st

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Purdue	93	1,286	13.8	6	--
2020	Purdue	53	625	11.8	8	--
2019	Purdue	86	1,035	12.0	7	--
Career		232	2,946	12.7	21	--

Season	Team
2021	Purdue	3	39	--	--	--
2020	Purdue	--	--	--	--	--
2019	Purdue	3	12	--	--	--
Career		6	51	--	--	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · UConn · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA +5.21Jack Plummer pass complete to David Bell for 59 yds for a TD, (Mitchell Fineran KICK)
Week 7 · Iowa · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +4.42Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 60 yds to the Iowa 16 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Michigan State · 3&9 · Q3 · EPA +4.14Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 50 yds to the MchSt 12 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Oregon State · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.88Jack Plummer pass complete to David Bell for 42 yds to the OrgSt 33 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Michigan State · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.76Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 42 yds to the MchSt 6 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Michigan State · 2&9 · Q4 · EPA +3.62Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 53 yds to the MchSt 6 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Iowa · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.56Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 47 yds to the Iowa 20 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Oregon State · 3&13 · Q3 · EPA +3.29Jack Plummer pass complete to David Bell for 13 yds to the OrgSt 41 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Iowa · 3&16 · Q4 · EPA +3.28Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 20 yds to the Iowa 22 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Iowa · 2&9 · Q4 · EPA +2.96Aidan O'Connell pass complete to David Bell for 21 yds for a TD, (Mitchell Fineran KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 30-21vs Oregon State	8	134	16.8	0	42	134-yard receiving day
Wk 2	W 49-0@ UConn	6	121	20.2	3	59	3 TD catches
Wk 3	L 13-27@ Notre Dame	7	64	9.1	0	32
Wk 5	L 13-20vs Minnesota	6	120	20.0	0	34
Wk 7	W 24-7@ Iowa	11	240	21.8	1	60	Season-high 240 yds
Wk 8	L 13-30vs Wisconsin	6	33	5.5	0	10
Wk 9	W 28-23@ Nebraska	9	74	8.2	0	21
Wk 10	W 40-29vs Michigan State	11	217	19.7	1	53	217-yard receiving day
Wk 11	L 31-59@ Ohio State	11	103	9.4	0	23
Wk 12	W 32-14@ Northwestern	12	101	8.4	0	21
Wk 13	W 44-7vs Indiana	6	79	13.2	1	20
Total		93	1286	13.8	6	60