it wasn't a great night for Ronnie Bell against the Saints.
Ronnie Bell was on the fringes of the 49ers' 53-man roster, but his outing against the Saints in preseason Week 2 won't help matters.
The San Francisco 49ers have one, perhaps two open spots on their regular-season wide receiver depth chart.
And there are plenty of players vying to earn one of those coveted spots behind Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings.
One of those is second-year wideout Ronnie Bell, the seventh-round NFL Draft pick out of Michigan who flashed moments of promise his rookie season but failed to make much of an impact, largely because of how stacked the Niners' wide receiver room was.
Bell had an up-and-down training camp and also had a key drop during San Francisco's preseason Week 1 loss at the Tennessee Titans, potentially endangering his roster chances.
As such, he was one of several fringe players who needed to deliver when the 49ers hosted the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 of the preseason.
Ronnie Bell pushed himself further on 49ers roster bubble vs. Saints
Bell suffered a drop early in the game against New Orleans. That won't help.
And neither will two specific plays with backup quarterback Josh Dobbs under center, including a complete whiff on a route where the second-year receiver wasn't at the part of the field where Dobbs was targeting.
Then, right before halftime, Dobbs tried to hit Bell's outside shoulder in the end zone, except Bell turned the opposite direction.
Further endangering Bell's chances is rookie wide receiver Jacob Cowing, who hauled in a 38-yard catch to help set up the Niners' first touchdown of the night to take the lead over NOLA just before halftime.
If one had to make a pick between Bell and Cowing, it'd probably be safer to assume the latter makes the cut.
Unless Bell has the most bouce-back-iest of bounce-backs between now and Week 1.
