University of Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell was selected on Apr. 24 in the third round of the 2026 National Football League Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
Bell’s selection as the 94th overall pick marks the highest draft position for a Louisville wide receiver since Tutu Atwell was chosen in the second round with the 57th pick by the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. He is now the eleventh University of Louisville wide receiver to be drafted into the NFL.
The Yazoo City, Mississippi native becomes only the seventh Cardinal ever drafted by Miami and is Louisville’s eighteenth player to be picked in the third round. He is also Louisville’s first wide receiver taken since Jamari Thrash, who was selected by Cleveland in the fifth round of last year’s draft. The Cardinals have now had at least one player chosen in four consecutive drafts, and Bell represents head coach Jeff Brohm’s eighth NFL draft pick during his tenure.
Last season, Bell earned first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors after posting a career-best year with 72 receptions for 917 yards and six touchdowns across just eleven games. His performance included three games with over one hundred receiving yards, highlighted by a twelve-catch, one hundred seventy-yard effort against Virginia.
Over his college career spanning forty-seven games, Bell recorded a total of one hundred fifty-one catches for two thousand one hundred sixty-six yards and twelve touchdowns. He averaged more than fourteen yards per reception and achieved five games with at least one hundred receiving yards.
