Jim Harbaugh: Michigan WR Ronnie Bell might be better than ever this season
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football wide receiver Ronnie Bell looked like a different player in last year’s season opener against Western Michigan. The wideout led Michigan in receiving in 2019 and 2020 — combining for 1,159 yards and two touchdowns in the two seasons, after registering 145 yards and two scores in 2018 — so he’s always been productive.
But he had added another gear to his game ahead of the 2021 campaign, what many felt would be his last in Ann Arbor. He caught a 76-yard touchdown on a slot-fade, made a ridiculous one-handed catch that didn’t count since he was ruled out of bounds and returned a punt 31 yards. Bell was on his way to being perhaps Michigan’s best offensive player.
That was, of course, until he tore his ACL at the end of the aforementioned punt return and was carted off of the field. He was ruled out for the remainder of the 2021 Michigan season, a big blow for the Wolverines’ offense, and underwent surgery in mid-October.
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A returning captain, Bell decided to give it one more go at Michigan as a fifth-year senior. He kept his spirits high despite not playing in the fall and being limited in the spring, and is nearing 100 percent as the summer progresses.
The plan has been for him to be 100-percent healthy by the time August’s fall camp rolls around, and it appears everything is headed that way, according to what head coach Jim Harbaugh said at the Ferris State Sound Mind Sound Body Michigan Showcase on Thursday. Based on what Harbaugh has seen, Bell might even be at his best for Michigan this fall — potentially even at a higher level than he was at to start last season.
“You could talk to Ronnie and find out exactly where he is,” Harbaugh said, noting that he doesn’t want to speak for his player. “But from my eye, he looks like Ronnie Bell [from] before he injured the ACL — just the way he’s moving. I’ve seen him run, I’ve seen him jump, I’ve seen him cut. He’s definitely on track and looks about the same as he did before — maybe even a little bit better.”
The Michigan receiving corps is as loaded as it’s been under Harbaugh. The Wolverines return nine players who caught 10 or more passes and eight standouts who racked up 140 or more receiving yards. None have enjoyed as productive of careers as Bell, though, which made his decision to come back so important. He will feature out wide and in the slot, allowing Michigan to show different looks and used multiple personnel groupings.
Michigan’s ‘summer cycle’ of workouts began Friday, and Bell has roughly two months to get 100 percent and in peak shape before the beginning of fall camp.
“He’s got two more months to become even stronger, faster and ready for the season,” Harbaugh said. “From my eye, it looks A-plus-plus.”
