Vonn Bell

Vonn Bell
Bell after the National Championship victory
Bell in 2015
No. 24 – New Orleans Saints
Position: Safety
Personal information
Born: (1994-12-12) December 12, 1994
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school: Ridgeland (Rossville, Georgia)
College: Ohio State
NFL Draft: 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 61
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2018
Total tackles: 198
Sacks: 5.5
Forced fumbles: 4
Fumble recoveries: 1
Interceptions: 0
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Vonn Christian Bell (born December 12, 1994) is an American football safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Early years

Bell's first two years of high school were at Chattanooga Central High School in Harrison, Tennessee, where he received all district honors. Bell then attended Ridgeland High School in Rossville, Georgia. In Bell's senior year he led Ridgeland to the Georgia class AAAA state championship but lost to Sandy Creek 41-10. He was rated by both Rivals.com and Scout.com as a five-star recruit and was ranked among the number two safety in the country.[1][2] Bell was rated as a five-star recruit by 247 Sports and a high four-star by ESPN who rated him as the 50th best player overall in the nation regardless of position. Bell was elected to play in the 2013 Under Amour All-American game. On February 6, 2013 he committed to The Ohio State University.[3][4]

College career

Bell played in all 13 games as a backup his freshman season in 2013, but made his first career start on January 3, 2014 in the Discover Orange Bowl where he recorded his first collegiate interception.[5] Bell became a full-time starter for the Buckeyes his sophomore season in 2014.[6][7] He played in all 15 games recording 91 tackles and a conference-leading six interceptions.[8] In the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship victory over Oregon, he recorded six tackles and a sack.

Professional career

He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, but opted to skip the combine drills due to a hamstring injury. He chose to only meet with team representatives and had his measurements and weight taken. On March 11, 2016, he attended Ohio State's pro day and performed the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, 10-yard dash, and vertical drill for scouts and team representatives.[9] He also attended private workouts and visits with multiple teams, including the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tennessee Titans among others.[10][11][12] Bell was projected to be a second round pick by NFL Draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the second best safety prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock and ESPN, the third best strong safety by DraftScout.com, and was ranked the 11th best defensive back by Sports Illustrated.[13][14][15]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad
5 ft 11 in
(1.80 m)		 199 lb
(90 kg)		 32 3⁄8 in
(0.82 m)		 9 1⁄2 in
(0.24 m)		 4.53 s 1.60 s 2.62 s 30 1⁄2 in
(0.77 m)
All values from NFL Combine/Ohio State's Pro Day[16]

2016

The New Orleans Saints selected Bell in the second round (61st overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. They traded their third round (78th overall) and fourth round (112th overall) selections to the New England Patriots in order to move up to the 61st pick and select Bell. The Patriots went on to select NC State's Joe Thuney and Georgia's Malcolm Mitchell with their acquired selections.[17]

External video
Saints select Vonn Bell 61st overall

On May 10, 2016, the New Orleans Saints signed Bell to a four-year, $3.97 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $1.08 million.[18][19]

Throughout training camp, Bell competed to be the starting free safety against veteran Jairus Byrd.[20] He joined a group of established veteran safeties, including Jairus Byrd, Kenny Vaccaro, and Roman Harper. Head coach Sean Payton named Bell the backup free safety behind Byrd to start the regular season.[21][22]

He made his professional regular season debut in the New Orleans Saints' season-opening 35–34 loss to the Oakland Raiders.[23] The following week, he made his first career start, as a nickelback, and recorded a season-high nine combined tackles during a 16–13 loss at the New York Giants in Week 2.[23] He made his first career tackle on wide receiver Sterling Shepard during the game, after Shepard caught a five-yard pass on the Giants' first offensive snap.[24] On November 9, 2016, Bell recorded six combined tackles and was credited with half a sack during a 41–23 victory at the San Francisco 49ers.[23] He made his first career sack with teammate Cameron Jordan, as they tackled quarterback Colin Kaepernick for a five-yard loss in the third quarter.[25] In Week 15, he tied his season-high of nine combined tackles and forced a fumble in the Saints' 48–41 victory at the Arizona Cardinals.[23] He finished his rookie season in 2016 with 87 combined tackles (61 solo), four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a sack in 16 games and 14 starts.[26] Bell was inconsistent throughout his rookie season and supplanted Byrd at free safety for a brief period in the beginning of the season before losing the role due to issues in pass coverage. He started two games at free safety and started 12 as either a nickelback or third safety in Dennis Allen's third-safety technique.[27]

2017

During training camp, Bell competed against rookie Marcus Williams for the job as the starting free safety. Head coach Sean Payton officially named him the starter to begin the regular season, alongside strong safety Kenny Vaccaro.[28]

On October 15, 2017, Bell recorded five combined tackles and made his first career solo sack on quarterback Matthew Stafford during a 52–38 win against the Detroit Lions.[29] In Week 11, he collected a season-high 13 combined tackles (ten solo) and a sack in the Saints' 34–31 victory over the Washington Redskins.[29] The following week, Bell made 11 combined tackles (nine solo) and sacked quarterback Jared Goff during a 26–20 loss at the Los Angeles Rams.[29] He finished the 2017 season with 83 combined tackles (62 solo), 4.5 sacks, and two pass deflections in 16 games and ten starts.[26] Pro Football Focus gave Bell an overall grade of 68.7, ranking him 65th among all qualifying safeties in 2017.[30]

The New Orleans Saints finished first in the NFC South with an 11-5 record. On January 7, 2018, Bell started in his first career playoff game and recorded nine combined tackles and sacked quarterback Cam Newton in the Saints' 31–26 victory against the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wildcard Game.[29] The following week, he made eight solo tackles during a 29–24 loss at the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Round.[29]

References

  1. ↑ Rivals.com bio
  2. ↑ Scout.com
  3. ↑ Football recruiting: Safety Bell commits to Ohio State
  4. ↑ OSU's lead for Vonn Bell too much for Vols
  5. ↑ BELL READY TO MAKE PLAYS FOR OSU
  6. ↑ Vonn Bell becoming face of Ohio State defense
  7. ↑ Moneyballs and cupcakes: Why Ohio State's Vonn Bell is always in the right place and how he's rewarded
  8. ↑ Buckeyes' Bell sees bold vision becoming reality
  9. ↑ "*Vonn Bell, DS #3 SS, Ohio State". DraftScout.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ Lambert, Terry (May 23, 2016). "2016 NFL Draft Report: Vonn Bell to visit Titans". musiccitymiracles.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  11. ↑ "2016 NFL Draft: LA Rams To Visit With Ohio St. S Vonn Bell". turfshowtimes.com. April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ Moody, Dennis. "Safety Vonn Bell Made A Pre-Draft Visit To The Bills". buffalowdown.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ Burke, Chris (April 12, 2016). "2016 NFL Draft position rankings". SI.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ Mayock, Mike (April 25, 2016). "Mike Mayock's 2016 NFL Draft top 100 prospect rankings". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  15. ↑ Legwold, Jeff (April 25, 2016). "Ranking the draft's top 100 players". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  16. ↑ "NFL Draft Profile: Vonn Bell". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  17. ↑ Dabe, Christopher (April 30, 2016). "New Orleans Saints trade up, select Vonn Bell in second round of 2016 NFL Draft". NOLA.com. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Saints Sign Safety Vonn Bell to a Four-Year Contract". NewOrleansSaints.com. May 10, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Spotrac.com: Vonn Bell contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "New Orleans Saints 2016 Training Camp Preview". defpen.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Saints Release First Depth Chart for 2016 Season". foxsports.com. September 7, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  22. ↑ Hendrix, John (September 8, 2016). "Saints' Week 1 depth chart lists Paul Kruger, Jahri Evans as starters".
  23. 1 2 3 4 "NFL Player stats: Vonn Bell (2016)". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  24. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 2-2016: New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  25. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 9-2016: New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  26. 1 2 "NFL Player stats: Vonn Bell (career)". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  27. ↑ Triplett, Mike (January 12, 2017). "Vonn Bell was versatile, inconsistent while leading Saints rookies in snaps". espn.co.uk. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  28. ↑ Anderson, Roy (September 6, 2017). "Saints release first unofficial depth chart of regular season *UPDATED*". whodatdish.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 "NFL Player stats: Vonn Bell (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Pro Football Focus: Vonn Bell". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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