Name: Ronnie Bell
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Kansas City (MO) Park Hill
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Bell # and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 43 catches for 670 yards and 4 touchdowns (LINK). He caught 1 pass for 76 yards and 1 touchdown and returned 1 punt for 31 yards.
TTB Rating: 71
Bell was Michigan’s two-time defending champ when it comes to receiving going into 2021. Despite a lot of people thinking he wasn’t fast enough or big enough, he just kept coming through. And despite higher ranked receivers also existing on the roster, he kept outperforming them. I only gave him a TTB Rating of 71 coming out of high school, but I hopped on the bandwagon after watching him bounce off of tacklers over and over again, just like he did in high school. He might have better balance after contact than any Michigan receiver I remember.
And 2021 was off to a great start.
He made a spectacular one-handed grab in the opener that was somehow ruled incomplete.
And he made a 76-yard touchdown catch.
And he made a 31-yard punt return . . .
. . . and at the end of it, he tore his ACL.
He averaged 76 yards per catch and 31 yards per punt return, the best season in Michigan history.
With the miracle of modern medicine, Bell should be back to full speed to start the season. He’s already up to full speed in captain voting, being voted a captain for a second year in a row. I expect him to once again lead Michigan’s team in receiving, but the presence of a solid crew of receivers keeps him here at #9, one spot below last year’s rank. The team showed they could win without him, yes, but he’s an emotional leader who can do a lot of different things – catch, run after the catch, block, return, etc. – as well as make plays on deep, intermediate, and short routes.
Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 45 catches for 650 yards, 5 touchdowns
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