Browns rookie making Jarvis Landry an afterthought
The Cleveland Browns let Jarvis Landry go earlier this year and rookie wide receiver David Bell is already making it clear why.
The Browns got their new quarterback in Deshaun Watson. They’re giving him a new-look receiving corps to work with in 2022.
In March, the team released Jarvis Landry and tight end Austin Hooper, losing their top two pass-catchers from 2021.
They added Amari Cooper via trade and then got their guy drafting David Bell in the third round of the NFL Draft. The latter is turning heads already.
Browns rookie David Bell making Jarvis Landry an afterthought
The early David Bell hype should help people understand why the #Browns were comfortable moving on from Jarvis Landry.
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) June 15, 2022
I'm not saying it hasn't happened and I was just focused elsewhere when it did, but through the five open #Browns practices I personally have not seen David Bell drop a single pass—not in position drills, not in 7 on 7s, not in full team drills. Not one. It's wild.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) June 14, 2022
#Browns David Bell said he actually dropped one ball at the first OTA session...but there haven't been many, if any, after that.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) June 15, 2022
#Browns WR David Bell on the connection he has developed with Deshaun Watson in a short time pic.twitter.com/uBR7L1qNQu
— Fred Greetham (@FredGreetham9) June 15, 2022
Media present at practices so far have raved about Bell’s strong hands and reliability.
Bell was a baller at Purdue. He scored 22 touchdowns in three years with 1,000-yard campaigns in 2019 and 2021. He was on pace for a third in 2020 if the Boilermakers had played a full season.
He earned consensus All-American honors as a junior before putting his name into the NFL Draft pool, leaving school with the sixth-highest receptions total in Big Ten history.
While perception around his limited ceiling dropped him into the late third round, Cleveland should benefit from adding a receiver with so much consistent productivity in his career.
Bell will have the chance to step straight into a starting role in the slot. It’s looking likely he’ll compete with Donovan Peoples-Jones to be Watson’s No. 2 target beyond Cooper.
Early signs look good for Bell but with hype comes expectations. He has to go out and live up to them.
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