In the latter portion of round three in last April's draft, the Miami Dolphins considered Chris Bell a steal. Only months removed from an ACL injury, Bell wasn't expected to contribute right away.
Bell missed most of training camp but managed to get some work in the weeks after camp broke, before the season started. In his first game as a Dolphins receiver, he made one catch for 25 yards and then didn't record another one until Week 3.
Against the Chiefs, and without fellow third-round rookie Caleb Douglas, Bell posted a four-catch, seven-target, 67-yard stat line that included a 44-yard catch-and-run. Bell looked smooth in his first real work as an NFL receiver, but the best part is he isn't fully conditioned and in NFL shape just yet.
Chris Bell shows what's in store for the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 loss to the Chiefs
Bell wasn't Malik Willis' go-to receiver on Sunday; that belonged to Malik Washington, but Bell took a big step forward. The Dolphins are working him into the offense slowly, but Sunday was a glimpse of how he uses his size to box out defenders and his suddenness to get separation.
Three games in, Bell has just five receptions on 10 targets, but it won't stay like that. As the season goes on and Bell gets more acclimated to the league and further away from his November 2025 knee injury, he will get better, and yes, that could fulfill that "steal" label so many put on him.
As a whole, there is still work to be done. The Dolphins have not had Bell and Douglas on the field for an entire game together as WR1 and WR2. That will also eventually change as Bell's health progresses.
Bell was dealing with a knee injury throughout the week leading up to the Chiefs' game. At the midweek point, it wasn't clear if he would be playing or not. Jeff Hafley announced on Friday that Douglas was ruled out, but that Bell would play.
The Dolphins took a lot of heat for moving on from Jaylen Waddle. Miami's WR room at one point was down to just M. Washington and a couple of future practice squad players. The Dolphins were expected to address the position early in the draft, but in round two they got Jacob Rodriguez, so Sullivan doubled down; they got two WRs in round three, and if the optics hold, he hit back-to-back home runs.
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