Louisville’s Chris Bell Suffered Torn ACL
One of the draft’s top receiver prospects is recovering from a serious injury. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel, Louisville’s Chris Bell suffered a torn ACL in late November.
[RELATED: WRs Starting To Emerge From 2026 Draft Class]
Bell suffered the injury in a November 22 matchup against SMU. The wideout finished that contest with five receptions for 46 yards. He was sidelined for the team’s regular season finale against Kentucky, and we now know why. Schefter notes that the player is believed to have suffered a “clean” tear, and he’s set to undergo surgery this week.
The six-foot-two, 220-pound receiver earned first-team All-ACC honors this season after hauling in 72 catches for 917 yards and six touchdowns. This was a breakout season for the Cardinals star, who entered the year with 1,249 receiving yards in 36 games at Louisville.
This is obviously a tough development for the NFL prospect, who was recently projected by ESPN’s Field Yates to be a first-round pick in this year’s draft. Yates cited the player’s size and “uncommon power and burst” as reasons for why he’d be highly touted in the draft. This latest development will surely hurt the receiver’s draft stock, and in an update, Yates notes that the injury will likely force Bell out of the first round. Still, considering the wideout’s upside, a team will still surely take a chance on him, perhaps even earlier than Day 3.
Ohio State’s Carnell Tate and Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson are still expected to be the first receivers off the board, but Bell could have pushed to be the third player taken at his position. Instead, this injury will likely open the door for the likes of USC’s Makai Lemon and Washington’s Denzel Boston to be scooped up by WR-needy squads drafting later in the first round.
WRs Starting To Emerge From 2026 Draft Class
In the days following the 2025 NFL Draft, early looks at the 2026 class had many excited about the potential options at quarterback. At this point of the year, though, many of the arms expected to have earned first-round buzz have made teams doubt whether they’re ready to come out of college altogether. According to Nick Baumgardner and Dane Brugler of The Athletic, another position has seen more success in emerging talented depth for next April.
While QBs haven’t fared well as a group thus far in the college football season, pass catchers have impressed. More notably, the position’s underclassmen have elevated what looked to be a lesser senior class of wide receivers. Asked to identify the prototypical X receivers in this year’s class, Baumgardner pointed immediately to the crop’s highest-rated WRs, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate.
At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Tyson has the frame of a pro wideout, and he’s logged monster production for the Sun Devils over the last two years. Last season, he put up an impressive 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns. A hamstring injury has slightly reduced Tyson’s output this year, but he has still managed a line of 59-689-8 in eight games. There’s little lacking in his game as he excels in getting open and making tough, contested catches.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Tate is a bit longer and leaner than Tyson, but he doesn’t sacrifice any quickness or control with that length. Tate has established himself as a deep threat this season with crisp route-running and an ability to adjust his pace to find the ball or get open. It’s hard to shine in an offense that features sophomore star Jeremiah Smith (not yet draft-eligible), but Tate has found a way by establishing himself as one of the more sure-handed receivers in the country. He seems set to continue the parade of NFL-ready receivers out of Columbus, following in the footsteps of recent Buckeye success stories like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Emeka Egbuka, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Other receivers generating buzz for later on in the first round include USC’s Makai Lemon, Washington’s Denzel Boston, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, and Louisville’s Chris Bell. At 5-11, 195 pounds, Lemon doesn’t possess great size, but he’s fast and can excel in roles outside of the slot when given the opportunity. Boston is the complete opposite, with a sizeable 6-foot-4 frame and the abilities to play both on the outside or as a big slot. Concepcion is a danger to score any time he gets his hands on the ball, and the Aggies have made sure to feed him as much as NC State did before he transferred.
Bell is the first senior mentioned and the only one sneaking into late-first projections. Fellow senior Germie Bernard, who plays for Alabama, is seemingly on the fringe at this point in the process. Bell shows impressive traits while still needing to polish several aspects of his game, but he possesses some uncoachable strength and explosive speed that should really benefit him at the next level. Bernard doesn’t impress much as an athlete, lacking ideal size/speed/strength attributes, but he does a lot of things right with a good all-around game.
The underclassmen are truly the gems of the group, according to Brugler, who placed Tyson, Tate, and Lemon among his top 20 prospects entering the season. All of those players have matched or exceeded the hype since then, Brugler notes. At this point, there’s little question about if they’ll get drafted high or whether they can play at the next level. The more important question will be whether or not they’re ready to declare this year.