LAS VEGAS — The Browns have selected WR David Bell from Purdue as the 99th pick overall in the 2022 NFL Draft as a compensatory selection via Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's hiring in Minnesota.
In 2018, Bell was a four-star recruit and Indiana's 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year. After heading to the Boilermakers, he started nine of 12 games, had 7.2 receptions per game, tying 10th nationally, as well as having seven touchdowns receiving. In 2020, he scored eight touchdowns in six starts to garner the first-team All-Big 10 notice. In West Lafayette, he had 93 receptions for 1,286 yards and six scores. He skipped his team's bowl game in order to prep for the draft.
Drafting Bell addresses a thin wide receivers room. After losing wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. last season, and with Jarvis Landry released and still undecided on where he'll land, wide receiver was a clear area of need for the Browns, considering it was an area of need with them both still on the roster.
Bell brings the ability to play outside, or in the slot like Landry did, with a knack for route-running. His explosiveness and speed will be a welcome addition to a receivers room that consists of Amari Cooper (who was recently traded for), Donovan Peoples-Jones (who has been a solid receiver and seems to have a very high ceiling), Anthony Schwartz (a burner who still has work to do in his route-running), Ja'Marcus Bradley (who has spent the majority of his time on the practice squad), Jakeem Grant Sr. (who is a return specialist) and Javon Wims (who was just added last week after spending 2021 on the Raiders practice squad).
Earlier in the night, the Browns selected DE Alex Wright with the No. 78 pick overall and Martin Emerson with the No. 68 pick overall after trading down their 44th overall pick to the Houston Texans.
On Saturday, the Browns have three picks in the fourth round, one in the sixth round and two in the seventh and final round.
RELATED: Cleveland Browns select DE Alex Wright from UAB in the 2022 NFL Draft
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
