Ronnie Bell discusses role with San Francisco 49ers, return game, teaming back up with Jake Moody
Michigan Wolverines football wide receiver Ronnie Bell, the San Francisco 49ers’ seventh-round pick in 2023, is “excited” to join the iconic franchise, even though he’s “not 100-percent sure” what his role will be. Most San Francisco writers believe he’ll mostly play the slot, but he can also play outside and contribute in the return game.
“Once I’m in the building, once I’m around the guys and pieces start to fall into place I’ll have that answer, but definitely just ready to work and just really excited,” Bell said of his role.
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Bell was asked how he’ll handle head coach Kyle Shanahan being notoriously tough on his wide receivers. For the Michigan product, it’ll be nothing new.
“My whole life, I’ve always had tough coaching, hard coaching on me, so that’s something honestly I’m excited about and something I feel like I’m most used to,” Bell noted. “Yeah, as far as the offense and everything, I’m just again, just once I get my hands on a playbook and start to put things together, I’m just really excited for that whole process.”
Bell led Michigan in receiving yards in three of the last four seasons. The only year he didn’t, he went down with a season-ending ACL injury in the first half of the first game. He paced the Wolverines with 62 catches (27 more than the second-most on the team), 889 yards (390 more than second) and 4 touchdowns in 2022.
Bell’s 2021 non-contact injury came on a punt return. He said before last season he was willing and wanted to compete for the return job, but it was A.J. Henning, who ranked second in the Big Ten with 7.2 yards per return, that won the job. Bell did have 2 returns for 45 yards, filling in for an injured Henning.
Special teams can keep players in the league, and Bell is hoping to make an impact in that phase of the game. He also revealed that he’s feeling better and better as the knee injury and subsequent surgery get further and further in the past.
“I definitely want to be a part of return game, but as far as my knee, I’ve done nothing but feel stronger as the time has gone by,” Bell explained. “Last year has just showed me throughout the time, I am still getting stronger, even though I felt 100 percent in the beginning. Throughout the season, I started to feel even better than I did in the beginning. I just feel like I’m just going to continue to get stronger with time.”
Ronnie Bell teams back up with Jake Moody
One of the biggest surprises of the draft was the 49ers drafting Michigan kicker Jake Moody No. 99 overall in the third round. He’s just the fourth kicker to be taken top-100 this century and highest-drafted player at the position since Roberto Aguayo in 2016.
Harbaugh called Moody — who made multiple game-winning kicks, including against Illinois in 2022 — a Michigan “legend.” Bell and Moody came into U-M together, played alongside each other for five years and will now go through their rookie seasons side by side.
He agreed with the 49ers scouting department that Moody “has ice in his veins.”
“Without a doubt, that is the exact way to describe Moody.”
Continued Bell: “Jake, he’s always been one about his business. He’s one that you know what you’re going to get, and you expect such high things out of him, and he always delivers throughout his whole career.
“We got there in Michigan the same summer, and throughout his whole career he was always very quiet, very about his business, but he always put in the work, and was always knocking down the field goals, knocking down the big ones. It was just a lot of fun to play with him and I’m excited to do that again.”
Nine Michigan players were drafted in 2023, going to just five teams, with four taking multiple Wolverines.
