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Rice Football: Jack Fox shines in NFL debut

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Week 1 of the NFL Preseason is in the books and former Rice Football punter Jack Fox is among the league leaders at the punter position.

There have been 170 punts thus far in the NFL Preseason. Jack Fox kicked just two of those in his professional debut on Saturday. His first outing was superb by all measures, but perhaps even more importantly, Fox has propelled himself into the ranks of the league’s best punters.

Among the 47 punters who have kicked so far, Fox ranks fifth in Net Punting Average. He’s tied for second in return yardage allowed (zero). All of his punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line, making him one of five punters to accomplish that feat.

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Dustin Colquitt, the Chiefs’ incumbent punter, had a great game. Both players had two opportunities, but it was the rookie who outperformed the vet. Fox punted for 93 yards to Colquitt’s 79. Fox put one more punt inside the 20-yard line and had one fewer punt returned.

Fox more than held his own through the first preseason game. He’ll have three more chances to prove himself before the Chiefs are forced to make a challenging decision.

The financials (per Spotrac) are another point in Fox’s favor. An undrafted free agent, Fox will count $3,333 against Kansas City’s cap this season. Colquitt, who recently signed a lucrative extension, brings with him a $3.15 Million cap hit. With the contracts of superstars like Patrick Mahomes and Tyreke Hill looming, the Chiefs likely wouldn’t be opposed to saving money wherever they can.

The Chiefs play their next game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 17. Fox and Colquitt are expected to split the punting duties once again.

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Rice Football: Safety battle a source of strength for Owls’ secondary

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Prudy Calderon and Naeem Smith hope to start for the Owls at strong safety next season. No matter what happens, the Owls’ secondary will be in good hands.

The duel between incumbent Prudy Calderon and JUCO transfer Naeem Smith for the starting strong safety position could be the most heavily contested position battle at Rice during fall camp. Yet, when discussing the battles to watch last week, the safety position wasn’t mentioned — and there was reason for that.

Although only one player can be listed as the starter on an official depth chart, Rice will utilize both players heavily this season. Competitors on the practice field, these teammates understand what they have to offer the Owls’ defense and are working hard to improve wherever they can.

The new kid on the block

“Prudy and I, we’ve made each other better,” Smith remarked following Saturday’s scrimmage in which he registered the defense’s only interception of the day. “We have one goal, to get better each day, and I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”

Smith’s takeaway was indicative of that growth. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith praised Naeem, saying he “brings a physical presence to the defense.” Athletically, Smith fits more as a run-stopper. He’s the kind of player who attacks the football and moves sideline to sideline with intensity and power. That skill set has been evident since he arrived in the spring.

In 12 games at Ellsworth Community College last season, Smith registered six tackles for a loss. That mark would have put him second only to the Owls’ Anthony Ekpe’s 6.5 tackles for a loss in 2018.

Calderon has taken notice and admires that facet of Smith’s game. “He has a high motor. I see him on film and from play one to play 50 he’s the same speed, just running to the ball, flying downhill, doing something. That that kid is really talented.”

The returning starter

In many ways, Calderon serves as an excellent complement to Smith. Calderon won the job midway through the 2018 season. He quickly became the team’s deep cover man and pass defending leader. He led the team with four interceptions and seven pass deflections, showing veteran savvy as he made play after play on balls in the air.

As good as he was last season, Calderon has taken a page out of Smith’s book over the past several months. “I played the ball in the pass game pretty well [last season],” he said, “I think what I didn’t really showcase was my physicality and coming down the road game. And that’s one thing I want to do [this year].”

More: Read detailed profiles on Smith and Calderon in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview

In many ways, it could be that simple. Rice has two extremely talented players who happen to both play the same position.

With George Nyakwol manning the free safety spot and Treshawn Chamberlain holding down the fort and the viper position, there are only so many snaps to go around. That presents a puzzle for Coach Smith to work through, but it’s a good problem to have.

“As a defense,” Calderon remarked, “our chemistry is through the roof.” Both players know that whoever wins the starting job is going to play a lot this year. Whoever “loses” is going to see plenty of the field as well. No matter who’s name is written at the top of the depth chart on a given day, neither appears intimidated or overly concerned.

The path forward

Smith is taking it all in too. “That’s one thing I’ve learned from being at a junior college, nothing is ever handed to you. So, that’s something that we gotta realize and take full advantage of. Every opportunity we step on the field, you got to make the most of it.”

So far, Smith has done just that. Calderon was honored as the team’s best freshman during the offseason. For Smith, getting to South Main in the first place represents a significant achievement. Starter or not, both Smith and Calderon will be important pieces for Rice in 2019.

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Rice Football: Reagan Williams keeping Owls’ fullback position alive

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Rice Football has a new fullback in town. Reagan Williams hopes to keep the dying position alive with a productive year at South Main.

It’s not easy to find fullbacks in modern college football. Teams are taking the big blockers off the field in favor of quicker, more wide-open options. Rice is one of the few programs who employs the position with any sort of regularity. The minimal demand has translated into short supply, making recruiting fullbacks an art in itself.

Brian Hibbard, the Owls’ first fullback commitment under Mike Bloomgren, is a member of the 2020 recruiting class. The staff is excited to get him on campus, but they have one more season to play before that happens. That leaves a hole in the roster for the 2019 season. Reagan Williams, who played fullback for Bloomgren while he was the offensive coordinator at Stanford, emerged as the sure-fire solution.

For Williams, the decision to follow his old coach to South Main was an easy one. He and teammate Brian Chaffin both left Stanford to play their final college season with Rice. Although the location and uniform colors had changed, Williams said Bloomgren really hasn’t. “He keeps the same intensity, same fire, the same physicality.” Williams hopes the similarities reach onto the field as well.

More: Notes and quotes from Rice Football Media Day

Last year Rice brought in Gio Gentosi, a graduate transfer from UCLA. He’d been seldom used as a fullback with the Bruins and hoped for more involvement at South Main. Not only did Gentosi become an important piece in the offense, but he also scored his only collegiate touchdown in the last game of his career.

“That’s something I’m hoping happens more here,” remarked Williams noting that with Bloomgren’s offense, “you always got the chance to slip out of the backfield, catch a ball, maybe do a little run.” That’s a far cry from the reality fullbacks face most everywhere else, not that they are many other places.

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“Yeah, it’s definitely a dying position,” Williams said, “you gotta love to be physical, love to be violent, you gotta impose your will.” He’ll get plenty of chances to do that at Rice, and he’s optimistic he’ll be able to do more than just knock some defenders around.

The added involvement in the passing game can be credited to Owls’ offensive coordinator Jerry Mack. While Bloomgren’s roots are deep in the running game, Mack has extensive experience in spread systems at his previous stops. It’s added a bit of nuance to Bloomgren’s traditional scheme from his days at Stanford, and it’s something Williams is excited about.

To Williams, whether or not he gets to handle the football as much as he might like is an added bonus. His refrain matches the culture Bloomgren is working to establish at Rice, “anyway I can help the team get to where we want to be.”

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Rice Football: Year 2 gains the focus of Owls’ 2019 Media Day

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Rice Football hosted its 2019 Media Day. Several coaches and players spoke, but all shared the same refrain. The team is starting off on a better foot in Year 2.

“Talking season” is upon us, which means meaningful football games aren’t far away. Mike Bloomgren, Austin Trammell and Myles Adams attended Conference USA Media Days in July. Bloomgren, his coordinators, and more than a dozen players were made available for the Owls’ own Media Day on Saturday.

The conversations were varied, ranging from the finer details of special teams to the impactful freshman already turning heads. But one theme which ran through every discussion was the difference between Year 1 and Year 2.

Bloomgren began the conversation in his opening statement.

I think when you talk to all the coaches in this room and the players that were here last year, just the ability to be in the same system, to hear the same message taught and realize that we are singing out of the same hymnal day in and day out. I think that’s really important. It’s really good for the players, really good for the coaches. And it certainly allows me to be more comfortable in everything that we’re doing. I feel like we are making big, big gains.Mike Bloomgren

That continuity applies to the incoming freshman class as well. Even though they didn’t experience the 2018 season, they’re benefiting from the effort put in to build the culture they’re walking in to. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith said those newcomers have allowed the team “to raise the floor” and have built “depth at every position.”

More: Practice notes from the first scrimmage of fall camp

That depth will be tasked with bolstering the Owls’ who were thrown into the fire as freshmen last season. Some of those freshmen, like Cole Garcia on the offensive line, Antonio Montero at linebacker and Prudy Calderon in the secondary, became fixtures on the team who have maintained their position entering 2019.  Offensive coordinator Jerry Mike isn’t taking that experience for granted.

Across the board, we’re just so much more experienced. Like coach always says, everything is better in Year 2. And I think right now we’re reaping some of those benefits. It’s not perfect, by no stretch of the imagination. But one thing that we’re doing is we’re continuing to grow each day… we’re trying to figure out the best techniques and all the best schemes that we can develop against our defense that will carry on into the season.” Jerry Mack

That theme carried over to the special teams. Under the direction of newly appointment coordinator Drew Svoboda, the Owls’ special teams will have to replace Jack Fox and Hayden Tobola, but Svoboda is confident they have enough continuity as a unit to stay successful saying Rice will need to “make improvements and little tweaks and polish up little things.”

Like Bloomgren mentioned in his introduction, everyone is on the same page. Sticking to the process and making improvements as needed are the Owls’ marching orders. Now it’s time to execute.

You can read more about Bloomgren and his process in a special feature in our 2019 Rice Football Preview.

 

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Rice Football: Individuals shine in first scrimmage of fall camp (8/10)

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Rice football took the field for their first scrimmage of fall camp. The defense was impressive, but several offensive players made some big plays.

As a unit, the offense struggled out of the gate on Saturday. They had somewhere around a dozen drives throughout the day, managing to punch the ball into the endzone only twice and reaching the redzone once. The defense wasn’t doing anything fancy, staying more or less vanilla, but found repeated success. Here are a few of the bigger moments and notables from both sides of the ball.

Minor bumps and bruises

Austin Trammell, Brian Chaffin and Reagan Williams did not participate in the scrimmage. All three are dealing with some minor injuries which shouldn’t impact their offseason progress. Coach Bloomgren confirmed later that had there been a game today, each of the three probably could have participated.

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Offensive highlights

As has been the case for much of fall camp, there was plenty of attention on the wide receivers. With Trammell out for the day, several younger faces were given the opportunity to contribute with Jake Bailey filling in for Trammell with the first team.

Zane Knipe had a toe-tapping catch in quarterback/wide receiver drills. August Pitre made an impressive diving snag on third down to move chains on a nice feed from Wiley Green. Chris Boudreaux, working mostly with the reserves, was able to make some nice pickups after the catch in space.

Cam Montgomery was electric out of the backfield, making nice cuts upfield with the ball and being used frequently as a pass catcher. He’ll be relied upon heavily in that capacity this season. Charlie Booker and Ari Broussard both showcased some powerful running. While the offense as a whole was somewhat muted, the team was able to make some meaningful games in the run game behind those two players.

More: Check out each and every player profiles in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview, on sale now.

Wiley Green had some nice moments at quarterback. He led the first team’s only touchdown drive, hitting Aston Walter in the flat in the redzone for the score. That was the highlight of an otherwise inconsistent showing from the unit as a whole. Tom Stewart took reps with the first and second team, but was unable to get the offense past midfield, not one of his better days.

Backup Parker Towns took off on a 30-yard touchdown scamper, the only other touchdown scored by the offense during the scrimmage. Jovoni Johnson was the last quarterback in. He displayed polished mechanics and looked comfortable in the pocket. When he did take off an run, his first step was explosive. His accuracy was up and down, but the zip on his passes was evident.

Defensive highlights

Outside of some careless penalties, the defense clearly won the day. Rice was one of the least penalized teams in the country last year, so that issue should correct itself by the time the Owls take the field against Army.

The front seven was dominant. The linebackers were everywhere, led by Blaze Alldredge and Antonio Montero, with some nice stops by Garrett Grammer. Freshman De’Braylon Caroll has already moved up to the second team and had a big day. He’s been unblockable through fall camp and will be in the running to see significant minutes quickly. He’s been the most impressive freshman on defense so far.

Both Anthony Ekpe and Kebreyun Page forced fumbles. The entire group was quick from sideline to sideline. At one point, three separate defenders chased the speedy Montgomery to the edge for a loss, making it impossible for him to turn upfield and make even a minor gain.

The secondary did a phenomenal job as well. The offense didn’t take many deep shots and the few balls that did get thrown downfield fell harmlessly to the turf. D’Angelo Ellis went up and over Brad Rozner to break up a sideline throw by Green. Naeem Smith picked off Tom Stewart for the only interception of the day.

The safety play, headlined by George Nyakwol, Prudy Calderon and Smith, was superb. Corner Treshone Devones was recognized by Bloomgren as one of the Owls’ most impressive freshman through the first week of camp.

Special Teams

There were two dedicated special teams portions of practice. Freshman kicker Zach Hoban took all the reps with the field goal unit with the other kickers getting the day off. This wasn’t an indicator of Hoban necessarily being ahead in the pecking order, rather part of a cycle to keep all of the kickers fresh. Hoban was sharp and connected on what appeared to be four of five field goals to start the day.

The punting duties were split between Adam Nunez and Chris Barnes. Nunez displayed an impressive ability to place balls directionally well. Barnes was consistent, too, ending his session with a booming punt with a 4.7 second hang time. Nunez is probably a step in front at the moment, but it’s still a close race with the strong possibility both see game time this fall.

The scrimmage ended with one more special teams session where Trey Schuman blocked a long field goal. Coach Svoboda confirmed getting hands up in those situations has been a priority through fall camp. That made for a nice finale to the day.

Updated depth charts

Here’s how the team lined up for the first scrimmage. This went up on the forum during practice, stay tuned there for live updates.

First team offense

QB | Green/Stewart
RB | Walter/Booker/Otoviano
WR | Rozner, Trammell, Pitre
TE | Bull/French
OL | Servin, Leverett, Baker, Garcia, Gooseberry

Second team offense

QB | Marshman
RB | Broussard, Montgomery
WR | Knipe, Boudreaux, Palmer, Bailey
TE | Bradley
OL | Peterson, Riddle, Baker, Garcia, Osuji

First team defense

DL | Schuman, Adams, Garcia, Ekpe
LB | Alldredge, Montero
CB | Ellis, Bird, Chamberlain
S | Nyakwol, Calderon

Second team defense

DL | Page, Enechukwu, Carroll, Doddridge
LB | Silcox, Grammer
CB | White, Thornton, Newsome
S | Smith, Richardson

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