Ronnie Bell
But let’s not forget who the reigning champion is when it comes to receptions and receiving yards. In 2019, it wasn’t Nico Collins, nor Donovan Peoples-Jones, nor Tarik Black. It was Bell who led the team in both metrics.
However, Bell gets slept on a bit — perhaps because he was a late offer/commitment in 2017 for the 2018 class, a former basketball player who didn’t have other opportunities to play football. But in his sophomore season, Bell showed up and showed out.
Now he’s a veritable leader on and off the field, Gattis says. But Bell can get better, particularly at catching the football, as he had a 14.8% drop rate, according to PFF.
“I think bringing that comfort level and leadership,” Gattis said. “Ronnie’s a guy that – he sets the tone in practice because he practices so hard. Just being able to have a guy that’s played a ton of football, he understands things. And Ronnie’s motivated. Even though for a lot of people, he had success last year, Ronnie believes, and he knows that last year, it was just scratching the surface. There were opportunities to be even better.
“So now it’s about how we can take his game from one year and develop it the next year and make it even better. Just being able to have him around in that room and that veteran leadership – as well as his playmaking ability. He’s another guy that’s created a ton of explosive plays for us with ball-in-hand type plays and we’re really excited about being able to take his game and make that jump as a second-year player. Because he didn’t play a lot of football his first year. So now getting more comfortable being a receiver and getting to develop him has been fun.”
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