LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Chris Bell could not run for NFL teams this spring. He could not jump, cut, catch passes or show the speed he insisted was still there.
The Miami Dolphins believed him anyway.
Bell, the former Louisville wide receiver whose senior season was cut short by a torn ACL in November, was selected by Miami with the No. 94 overall pick in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
For Bell, it was a bet on what teams saw before the injury, and what he spent the pre-draft process trying to convince them was still there.
At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Bell called himself "a walking contradiction": a physical specimen unable to do anything physical. At 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, he looked like an NFL receiver. But three months removed from knee surgery, his most important work came in interview rooms, not on the field.
"I’m still that dog," Bell said then. "Don’t let this injury fool you."
The Dolphins didn’t.
Bell leaves Louisville after catching 151 passes for 2,166 yards and 12 touchdowns over four seasons. His best year came in 2025, when he earned All-ACC honors after catching 72 passes for 917 yards despite playing in an offense that again required adjustment.
During his Louisville career, Bell caught passes from four starting quarterbacks — Malik Cunningham, Jack Plummer, Tyler Shough and Miller Moss. He often said his job was to become "the quarterback’s best friend."
Now he joins a Dolphins team that doubled down on wide receiver help in the third round. Miami selected Texas Tech receiver Caleb Douglas earlier in the round before taking Bell later at No. 94.
Bell’s injury likely affected where he was drafted. Before the ACL tear, he had been viewed as a potential higher-round prospect because of his rare combination of size, speed and physicality.
Asked at the Combine what he believed he would have run in the 40-yard dash if healthy, Bell didn’t hesitate.
"Four-three, for sure," he said.
That confidence became part of his pitch. So did his story.
Bell was a three-star recruit from Greenville Christian School in Mississippi, but his road was never especially smooth. As a younger player, he was once cut from a team because of eligibility issues. Instead of leaving football behind, he joined the band so he could stay close to the field.
"I just wanted to be there," he said.
That persistence carried him from Mississippi to Louisville, from a raw prospect to an All-ACC receiver, and now to the NFL.
The Dolphins did not draft Bell because of what he showed at the Combine. They drafted him because of what they saw before it — and what they believe he can become after recovery.
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