The Buffalo Bills, like every NFL team, selected players in this year’s NFL Draft. While most of this year’s picks for the Bills were on the defensive side of the ball, in the fourth round they selected wide receiver Skyler Bell, a former UConn Husky. The Bills have a shifty receiver in Khalil Shakir, receiving options with big bodies at tight end, James Cook, and hopefully Keon Coleman turns a makes strides this year. Where exactly does Bell fit in on the Bills’ offense? I’m glad you asked.
Some Film!
Getting quality footage for college players isn’t as easy as it is for the NFL, I was still able to take a good look at Bell’s 2025 season. While most of these came from highlight reels, there’s still plenty to be gleaned about the receiver. First let’s detour to his spider chart from mockdraftable.com.
Looking at his measurables, we have a player trending toward smaller and lighter, with athletic traits that suggest explosivity. That would sound like a shifty slot receiver specializing in run after the catch. Don’t we already have a Khalil Shakir though?
Yes, we do. But Skyler Bell might seem like a Shakir on paper, but the film tells a different story. Using Shakir as our baseline comparison the biggest similarity is change of direction. Bell can turn on a dime as we see with the broken tackle in the plays above. A lot of that is an inherent capability of smaller players. Physics are just in their favor.
That said, Bell is not as shifty as Shakir in large part due to a lack of polish/smoothness in his route running. Bell changes direction more through sheer will and physical ability than he does through technique. I’m not insinuating he’s without talent there, only that this is an area I would love to see him work on. The tape shows a high ceiling if he can refine a few things.
Of particular note is something I tried to highlight a few times in the montage. Arms should be in motion while running. While cutting and turning, the right arm movement can help provide some offsetting ballast to make things just work better. I noticed idiosyncratic arm movement a number of times while watching Bell. The occasional disconnect in his body an lead to inefficiency and that lack of polish. In theory, this should all be correctable with coaching.
It sounds like I’m quite down on Bell and that is simply not true. On paper you’d think Shakir replacement or backup, and that’s not very enticing is it? Where Bell exceeds though is acceleration. He can go from zero to full speed seemingly instantly. He’s also not afraid to mix it up with defenders. Bell also has good control of his body in the air.
What am I getting at? Skyler Bell doesn’t need to be in the Shakir mold. He should be able to work at the middle level and deeper than where Shakir makes the most noise. If Joe Brady can design some stress points on the defense, Allen’s rocket arm can get the ball to Bell who will then accelerate his way to glory.
Now for Brady to make it happen.
