University of Toledo senior offensive tackle Cameron Bell said you have to be just a little bit crazy to play on the offensive line.
With defensive pass rushers getting more and more athletic, the job of an offensive lineman has become increasingly more difficult. It takes a special mindset to excel and Bell, a towering presence at 6-foot-8 and 335 pounds, has learned to love it.
“You have the guard who sets the depth of the pocket, and the tackle sets the width,” Bell said. “It's a pain when you have a guy running a 40-yard dash at your chest. It's kind of a thankless job, and no one knows when you do well, and everyone knows when you do bad. It's something you have to grin and bear it for. It's fun to me. I'm probably messed up in the head to say that, but it's fun to me.”
Bell, who was a three-star prospect out of Nordonia High School, was the starting left tackle in 12 games last season after missing the season opener with an injury. The fifth-year senior is projected to be the starting right tackle this season.
Having earned increasing playing time each year after his redshirt season, Bell has come a long way in his development and even marvels at times at how much more mature he is on the field.
“I'm light years ahead of where I was when I first came in,” Bell said. “It's fun to throw on the film sometimes with some of the older guys and watch our first practice and our first spring. Then we throw it on now and see how far we've come as players and as men too. It's nice to see how we've grown as a unit and grown individually.”
The offensive line suffered a major blow when senior starting center Bryce Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury. Bell points out Harris is still around the team at all times and is looked at as a leader of the group.
“We're really lucky because Bryce is still in the building,” Bell said. “Bryce has been in every meeting. He's been at every function we've been at. He's a great leader and he's an infectious personality. It's really nice to have him around. The guys that are playing, I wouldn't say it's tremendous pressure, but it is a big loss for us. We have some guys that are ready. It's nice to have guys in the room that know how it needs to be done.”
But once the team is on the field, some of that responsibility will naturally fall on Bell as the most experienced player on the offensive line.
“The most impressive thing with Cam has been his leadership ability,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “Especially in Bryce's absence. He's done a nice job of stepping up and being a vocal guy and shouldering a lot of the responsibility almost to the point sometimes of putting too much pressure and too much heat on himself. He's a great kid and a great student and a guy that has been around our program for a long time.”
Toledo has a long line of successful offensive linemen, and that was one of the main draws to Toledo for Bell.
“Tom Manning was the old offensive line coach here,” Bell said. “He was the one who recruited me. I'm very fortunate to have coach [Mike] Hallett here. Coach Hallett does an amazing job, and I owe the world to that guy. He came in and made the transition really smooth. I was lucky enough to play behind Elijah Nkansah and Brant Weiss. Those guys really showed me the ropes and really showed me how things were done and both are having pretty successful NFL careers now.”
Having already graduated with a history degree, Bell is hoping to take everything in during his last go-around with Toledo and help the team chase a Mid-American Conference championship.
“It's really special to be a fifth-year senior here,” Bell said. “It's a privilege to get to play for such a storied program and a great place like Toledo and to go out with the group of guys that we have this year as fifth-year seniors.”
First Published August 23, 2019, 4:15 p.m.
