‘Going to be in my mind.’ Why Dolphins WR Chris Bell will use the draft as motivation
Omission can be great motivation.
It requires you to assess your flaws, come up with a plan and, arguably most important, execute to make sure you’re never overlooked again.
Such is the case with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chris Bell. A first-round talent that fell to the third due to a torn ACL, Bell will not be short of motivation to get back healthy.
“I’ve been having this ranking on the front of my home screen since this pre-draft started,” Bell said, referring to a “college ranking of all the receivers” that included him “kind of at the bottom of the list.”
Added Bell: “It’s going to be in my mind.”
Bell wouldn’t be the first player to use his draft position as fuel. There were 16 receivers taken before the Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown during the 2021 NFL Draft — and the four-time Pro Bowler remembers every one of them.
“I actually still think about it,” the wideout said on “NFL Total Access” with Mike Yam in 2023. “I actually have my goals written down in my notebook. What I want to achieve every year. So, what I want to achieve this year going into the season, my personal goals, and then right below that I have the 16 receivers written down, where they went to college right below that. And so, I read that whole list three times before I go to practice every day. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
In Bell’s case, there were 17 receivers taken ahead of him — all with varying degrees of skill level. One such receiver happens to be Texas Tech’s Caleb Douglas, whom the Dolphins took 75th overall, nine spots ahead of Bell. Jon-Eric Sullivan hopes the pair can form a competitive bond that pushes each to be great.
“There’s also a mutual respect and a bond that happens with young players as they go through the rigors of the NFL, especially within their first year, and they do it together,” Sullivan said. “It’s a brotherhood. You hear players all the time talk about family, brotherhood. I would foresee that developing between those two. They’re both good kids, and they’re both competitors, but I think they’ll have a mutual respect for each other and appreciation for each other.”
At 6-foot-2-inch, 222 pounds, Bell has a strong build and excels after the catch thanks to his rare acceleration for a player of his size, which has even drawn comparisons to three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown.
Bell started three of his four years at Louisville, however, it was until the 2024 season that he began to break out when he finished with 43 catches for 737 yards and four touchdowns. As a senior, Bell had 72 catches for 917 yards receiving and six touchdowns through 11 games prior to suffering the injury against SMU. His per game average of 83.4 receiving yards ranked second in the ACC.
“Most would tell you if he wouldn’t have got injured, he’s probably not sitting there anywhere close to where we got him,” Sullivan said. “The talent is very high. The upside is very high. And it’s a long-term investment, looking down the road, we’ve got a really good one.”
Dolphins fans who also support the Hurricanes might remember him from his nine-catch, 136-yard and two touchdown performance in the Cardinal’s 24-21 upset of UM. That matchup, however, was actually the final of three consecutive games in which the star wideout recorded at least nine catches, 100 yards through the air and a touchdown.
“They were No. 2 in college football around the time,” Bell said of what led to his dominant performance against the Canes. “I feel like that’s just something that I like to go up against. We were ranked low, and I just wanted to prove to everybody that I am who I say I am. I just wanted to shock the world and that’s what we did as a team.”
It’s still unclear when Bell will be ready for the season. Video of him running on a treadmill began to circulate prior to the draft alongside reports that he was “ahead of schedule” in his rehab. Whenever he does come back, however, the Dolphins could certainly have one of their wide receivers of the future.
“I’m going to write that on my mirror and every day I wake up, I’m going to see it,” Bell said of the receivers taken before him. “I’m going to tell myself, ‘This is how many guys they took before you. This is how long it took you to get drafted.’ I’m going to show everybody, and I’m going to prove to everybody, like I said, I am who I say I am.”
