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Will Ronnie Bell Make the 49ers' 53-Man Roster?

Bell is on notice.

Grant Cohn

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ronnie Bell (10) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ronnie Bell (10) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Ronnie Bell was a star for the 49ers as a rookie during preseason last year. Is he now in danger of getting waived?

The 49ers drafted Bell with pick no. 253 last year and he led all 49ers with 10 catches during the preseason. No one else had more than five. He also averaged 17.2 yards per catch, so he was explosive. Plus he returned kickoffs and punts. He seemed like he would be a fixture on the team for years to come.

But Bell's struggled in the regular season. He gained just 70 yards on 10 punt returns and fumbled one of them. He also caught just 6 of 13 targets, although three of those catches scored touchdowns. So he had some good moments despite his rookie mistakes. His stock seemed on the rise.

Then the 49ers drafted not one but two wide receivers this offseason -- Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing. And Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings are still on the team. So unless one of the top five receivers gets injured in training camp or the 49ers decide to keep a sixth receiver on the initial 53-man roster, Bell will get waived.

And even if the 49ers decide to keep a sixth receiver, Bell will have to beat out Danny Gray, Chris Conley, Trent Taylor and Tay Martin for that spot. It's entirely possible the 49ers could keep a veteran such as Taylor and send Bell to the practice squad after he inevitable clears waivers.

Bell is on notice.

Published
Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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