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Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm on David Bell’s NFL potential: ‘He’s a gamer’
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Throughout his career at Purdue, David Bell was a nightmare to defend for opposing secondary units. Regardless of situation, the star receiver always hauled in a big catch.
While everyone who watched Bell dominate the position the past 3 seasons believes he’s a made-for-NFL receiver, some of the scouts and draft analysts aren’t quite sure. He’ll undoubtedly be taken in this year’s NFL Draft, but virtually no mock drafts have the former Boilermaker being selected in the first round.
Is that a mistake?
On Tuesday, Purdue held its pro day for several former players to enhance their stock heading into this year’s draft. After drills and workouts concluded, head coach Jeff Brohm talked with NFL Network’s Stacey Dales about Bell’s potential at the next level.
“Without question on David, he is a gamer. He produces, he performs in the clutch and never backs down from anything. Against tough opponents, he rises and raises his level of play up,” Brohm said. “Great route-runner, strong hands — a quarterback’s best friend.
“For us he performed when he was injured. He had some opportunities to sit out longer than you’d want, but he came back, he played. I think he’ll be an outstanding player.”
In 2021, Bell totaled 93 receptions for 1,286 yards and 6 touchdowns in 11 games for the Boilermakers. He had 7 performances with 100 yards or more and hit the 200-yard mark on 2 occasions. He hauled in a season-best 3 touchdowns in a win over UConn and racked up 240 yards in Purdue’s upset of Iowa.
Bell ended his career at Purdue with 232 catches for 2,946 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was named the winner of the B1G Receiver of the Year following the 2021 season.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB