The 2026 NFL Draft is later this month, and that means it’s peak mock draft season.
We’re through the NFL Combine, and college pro days are wrapping up, as scouts get to see the last of this year’s prospects before they put together their final big boards for draft night in Pittsburgh.
The wide receiver position has a lot of talent this year and could see five or six guys drafted in the first round. There could also be top talents who slip to the second round, like Louisville’s Chris Bell.
San Francisco 49ers Predicted to Draft Chris Bell in Round 2, Load Up at Wide Receiver
The San Francisco 49ers signed Mike Evans and Christian Kirk in free agency to build up a receiver room that had been decimated over the last couple of years.
After losing Deebo Samuel and then Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers were left with second-year receiver Ricky Pearsall and veterans Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, and Demarcus Robinson for most of the 2025 season.
However, San Francisco addressed the need this offseason by bringing in Evans, who’s had 11 1,000-yard seasons, and Kirk, who’s a talented slot receiver.
Now, PFSN’s Jacob Infante’s latest mock draft has the 49ers adding more depth and young talent to the position with Bell.
“Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Chris Bell is a freak athlete for his size with the raw speed and strength to be a potential force at wide receiver. He falls a little bit due to a thin route tree and a season-ending injury, but one could argue that Bell has the highest ceiling among wide receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft.”
Infante believes Bell could be the steal of the draft if he lives up to his potential. The only things holding Bell back from the first round are his injury that ended his college career and his limited route tree.
The Louisville product played all four years with the Cardinals. He caught 7 passes for 105 yards in 9 games as a freshman and improved each season modestly.
He tallied 29 receptions for 407 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games as a sophomore. In one fewer game, Bell reeled in 43 catches for 737 yards and four touchdowns in 2024.
Then, in his senior year, Bell played in just 11 games due to his injury but was on pace for a 1,000-yard season. He had 72 receptions for 917 yards and six touchdowns.
Bell had a three-game midseason stretch in which he caught 31 passes for 441 yards and five touchdowns. A game against Miami, the eventual national champion runner-up, was during that stretch.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Bell would add instant depth at the position for San Francisco and has upside to fill in as a star in the future.
Infante mocked the 49ers to select Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren with their 28th overall pick, a player he believes could be a Day 1 starter.
