Roman Wilson knows he can’t be Ronnie Bell but will step up to fill void

Michigan knows that there can only be one Ronnie Bell and that no one can replicate who he was as a player and what he stood for. For the players in the wide receiver room, there is an understanding that they know they can’t replace Bell fully but can work towards filling the void he leaves behind.

For Roman Wilson, he has seen the impact that Bell has had on the program in recent years firsthand.

It won’t be an easy task to fill the void.

“For us to be able to replace Ronnie I feel like it’s going to be hard,” Wilson told reporters on Thursday. “Someone who is very passionate about the game that’s always ready to work and someone that is always motivated. Especially in the game—I’m not going to say it’ll be hard to replace him but it’s going to be hard to do the things he did on the field consistently.”

While it won’t be easy, nothing ever comes easy in football or the game of life. With Wilson’s experience, he will be taking what he has learned from Bell and others and applying it to a receiver group that has some young faces that are looking to take the next step this season.

Joining forces with Cornelius Johnson, he will be working closely with the younger players to become stronger leaders and pushing them to be better.

“One thing I can help do to fill the void is to help step into his leadership role a little bit,” Wilson said. “Help the young guys coming up. Besides me and CJ, other people are going to have to play that haven’t really played a lot of minutes this year. I think just me helping them and pushing them in the right direction is going to help a lot.”

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