On Thursday afternoon, Michigan wide receiver Ronnie Bell announced that he would head to the NFL after an illustrious career in Ann Arbor with Michigan.
“To all my teammates over these last five years, y’all know it’s love,” Bell wrote. “I will forever cherish the late days in the locker room, the blood, sweat, and tears in the weight room and the countless jokes in the meeting rooms. My brothers for life.”
Bell started off as a freshman in 2018, after being rated as a two-star receiver from Kansas City, Missouri. Although he wasn’t highly-rated, Bell showed great flashes of talent in his first year as a Wolverine.
He caught eight balls for 145 yards and two touchdowns in his first season in Ann Arbor, and he proved he could play a significant role in Michigan’s “speed in space” offense heading into the 2019 season.
In his sophomore season, he hauled in 48 receptions for 758 yards and a touchdown. Although receivers like Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Tarik Black stole the headlines, Bell quietly established himself as one of the better options at the position.
The 2020 season was obviously a disaster in many ways for Michigan, but Bell continued to produce. He had at least four receptions in all six of Michigan’s games in 2020, and he finished with 401 yards on the season.
Then came the 2021 season when Bell infamously tore his ACL in the season-opener against the Western Michigan Broncos. The senior receiver that had been such a key piece in changing the culture around the program, and he would be forced to miss the entire season.
Bell rehabbed, and came back to Michigan in 2022 for his fifth year with the team. He led Michigan to a 13-1 overall record and was able to be on the field for wins against Michigan State, Ohio State and in the Big Ten Championship Game.
A five-year career will come to a close for Bell, who will head to the NFL with plenty of tape for NFL executives to look at. He finishes his Michigan career with 145 receptions, 2,269 yards and nine touchdowns.
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