The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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[ W I D E R E C E I V E R S ] 66 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW RETURNING PLAYERS ANDREL ANTHONY • WR So. • East Lansing, Mich. Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 185 • Appeared in 12 games at wide- out, catching 12 balls for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns. • East Lansing native's season was headlined by 6 catches, 155 yards and 2 touchdowns at Michigan State on Oct. 30. • Enrolled early at U-M in January 2021. • Hauled in 28 catches for 508 yards and 3 touch- downs as a prep senior. • Named to the Detroit Free Press Dream Team and tabbed first-team all-state by the Associated Press (AP) and the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) as a senior. • Also earned all-state honors from the AP, MHSFCA and Detroit Free Press as a junior, when he set single-season school records for receiving yards (954) and receiving touchdowns (9). Is the pro- gram's all-time leading receiver with 2,005 career yards. • Regarded as a three-star recruit, the No. 527 over- all player and No. 79 receiver in the country in 2021 according to the On3 Consensus rankings. Year GP/GS Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs 2021 12/0 12 248 20.6 3 Total 12/0 12 248 20.6 3 RONNIE BELL • WR Gr. • Kansas City, Mo. Ht.: 6-0 • Wt.: 190 • Tore his ACL in the 2021 sea- son opener vs. Western Michi- gan after recording a 76-yard touchdown on his lone recep- tion. • Led the team with 26 catches for 401 yards and scored 1 touchdown as a junior during the 2020 campaign. • Played in all 13 games with 10 starts in 2019. Led the club in receptions (48) and receiving yards (758) with 1 touchdown. Posted career-highs in catches (9) and receiving yards (150) against Michigan State. • Received All-Big Ten honorable mention honors from the media and was named the team's Of- fensive Skill Player of the Year in 2019. • Saw snaps in every game for the Wolverines in 2018, tallying 8 catches for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns. • Named the team's 2018 Rookie of the Year on offense. • His first U-M reception was a 56-yard touchdown catch against Nebraska. • Set every receiving record at Park Hill High School, while amassing 2,476 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns on 159 catches during his career. Those totals all rank among the top three in Mis- souri high school history. • Won the 35th annual Thomas A. Simone Award as the top high school football player in the Kansas City area as a senior. Rated a three-star by the On3 Consensus. Year GP/GS Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs 2018 13/0 8 145 18.1 2 2019 13/10 48 758 15.8 1 2020 6/6 26 401 15.4 1 2021 1/1 1 76 76.0 1 Totals 33/17 83 1,380 17.4 6 EAMONN DENNIS • WR Jr. • Worcester, Mass. Ht.: 5-10 • Wt.: 175 • Switched positions from defen- sive back to wide receiver dur- ing 2022 spring football. • Appeared in three games on special teams last season. • Did not see game action in 2020. • Ranked by On3 Consensus as a three-star pros- pect and the No. 5 player in Massachusetts in the 2020 recruiting class. CRISTIAN DIXON • WR So. • Santa Ana, Calif. Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 197 • Appeared in one game last season, catching 1 pass for 7 yards in the win over North- ern Illinois (Sept. 18). • His prep senior season was canceled due to COVID-19, but he was able to play in the Pylon 7-on-7 All-American Game. • Named second-team All-Trinity League in 2019. • Totaled 1,473 receiving yards and 15 touch- down receptions during his sophomore and junior seasons. • Ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 51 wide receiver in the 2021 class by On3 Consen- sus ratings. Year GP/GS Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs 2021 1/0 1 7 7.0 0 Total 1/0 1 7 7.0 0 A.J. HENNING • WR Jr. • Frankfort, Ill. Ht.: 5-10 • Wt.: 185 • Played in all 14 games last season, returning punts in 12 and kickoffs in two. Had 10 receptions for 79 yards along with 9 carries for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns and a kickoff return score. Named an All-Big Ten performer (third team by coaches and media) as a returner. Returned 7 kickoffs for 177 yards (25.3 average) and 29 punts for 274 yards (9.4 average). • At Maryland, received a lateral from Michael Barrett on the kickoff return and took it to the house, an 81-yard score. • Started one game and appeared in all six during the 2020 season. Finished with 6 catches for 59 yards, including a long of 28 yards against Penn State. Also added 3 rushes for 15 yards. • Selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year in Illinois for 2019, becoming the second player from his high school to be chosen for the award. • Regarded as a four-star prospect, the No. 99 overall player and the 20th-ranked wideout in the nation, and the No. 2 player in Illinois per the On3 Consensus. Year GP/GS Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs 2020 6/1 6 59 9.8 0 2021 14/0 10 79 7.9 0 Totals 20/1 16 138 8.6 0 CORNELIUS JOHNSON • WR Sr. • Greenwich, Conn. Ht.: 6-3 • Wt.: 211 • Started all 14 games in 2021 while also contributing on special teams, blocking a pair of punts. Hauled in 39 recep- tions for 620 yards and 3 touchdowns and also rushed 3 times for 30 yards. Scored the fourth- longest receiving touchdown in U-M history (87 yards vs. Northern Illinois, Sept. 18). • Saw action in all six games with three starts during the 2020 season. Hauled in 16 passes PLAYER BIOS POSITION COACH Ron Bellamy is in his second year coaching at his alma mater, where he played wide receiver from 1999-2002. This will be his first year with the wideouts after spending the 2021 season coach- ing U-M's safeties. His move to the offensive side of the ball will be the first time the Wolverines will have a dedicated receivers- only coach since Jim McElwain in 2018. Bellamy helped coach a secondary in 2021 that finished ranked inside the top 30 nationally in pass defense, pass efficiency allowed and total defense. Safeties Daxton Hill (first team) and Brad Hawkins (third team) each picked up All-Big Ten honors under his watch. Both Hill (Cincinnati Bengals) and Hawkins (Atlanta Falcons) found NFL homes in 2022 after Bel- lamy's tutelage. Michigan had 20 different players break up a pass during the 2021 campaign, the highest mark at U-M in the last 25 years. Bellamy joined the staff after 11 years as the head coach at West Bloomfield (Mich.) High, where he won his first state title in his last season, having made one other appearance in the finals in 2017. He finished his time there with seven straight playoff berths. Before his tenure, the school had qualified for the playoffs only twice.