ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Never count out a Bell — that’s something we’ve long said. It started with former two-star Ronnie Bell, the Michigan football wide receiver who made a name for himself in a winged helmet and thus got drafted by the San Francisco 49ers and continues to be a part of their 53-man roster. But now his younger brother, Kendrick, is on the team, following in his older brother’s footsteps.
The younger Bell started for the first time, lining up against the vaunted Texas Longhorns in Week 2, and while he didn’t like the result, he was happy that his hard work is starting to pay off.
“It was a blessing,” Bell said. “I worked my tail off to be able to get to that spot, but I feel like I can always be better. And from watching the film on Saturday, I feel like I know I can do better. I feel like I can make more plays out there, but I can only do so much I can do. But I mean, I feel like we are going to be better on Saturdays, and we will be.”
Bell actually didn’t come to Ann Arbor as a wide receiver, as he hasn’t played the position since eighth grade. He signed as a quarterback and was initially given the opportunity there in 2023. However, at some point, it became clear he could have a bigger impact at wideout, and though Bell wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the move at first, it’s one that he’s since come to embrace.
“At first, Coach Harbaugh said that and my heart dropped, and I was not ready, because I have not played receiver in I don’t know how long,” Bell said. “But Coach Bellamy was stoked for it. He was happy for it. He seen my basketball highlights, so he knew that he could turn me into something. But, I’m still still developing, still doing this and that, so I continue to thrive with him.”
Michigan needs his size, in particular. At 6-foot-2, 191 pounds, Bell is one of the taller receivers on the roster and a verifiable downfield threat — at least from what we saw in the spring game. Thus far, he’s only had two catches for a total of 18 yards through two games, but considering that he didn’t even think he’d see the field (especially since he had a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined all fall camp), managing to play 30 snaps in Week 1 and 39 in Week 2, he’s seeing a huge increase in playing time.
The next step will be seeing more production.
“I will say, going into my first game, I didn’t think I was going to play that much,” Bell said. I missed all fall camp, so I didn’t think I was gonna do a whole lot, but I feel like I had a really good week going into the practice. And I just after that first catch, Coach Bellamy’s like, ‘You ready?’ I was like, ‘I’m ready.’ So feel like I did well, and I earned those snaps.”