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Rice Football: Toughness up front a focal point of Owls’ weekend (8/3)

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The top position battles are beginning to surface as Rice football marches onward. Here’s where we stand with three days of fall camp in the books.

Several interesting position battles on the offensive line

The Owls’ revamped offensive line will receive plenty of attention throughout fall camp as a trio of grad transfers vie for starting jobs. One of those new additions, Nick Leverett, seems to have solidified his spot. Leverett was with the team during spring practices and has taken advantage of the extra time in the system. He’s going to claim one of the two starting guard spots, most likely on the left side, where he’s lined up so far during camp.

The other two grad transfers, Brian Chaffin and Justin Gooseberry, have less certain futures.

Rice Football Season Preview
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Shea Baker looks to have the starting center job locked down, at least for now, and Cole Garcia has been taking the majority of the reps with the first team at the right guard spot. Chaffin is an interior guy with experience coming off the bench at Stanford. It’s possible he’ll serve as a “sixth man” for the Owls’ offensive line, spelling starters on drives throughout games.

Another plug — if you haven’t downloaded a copy of the 2019 Rice Football Preview yet, there’s five pages and 2,000+ words on the offensive line.  

Gooseberry is listed as the co-starter with Uzoma Osuji at right tackle on the pre-camp depth chart. The battle between those two has been intense and could go down to the wire. Osuji raised his level of play last year, beating out Florida grad transfer Andrew Mike. Gooseberry looks to be a more formidable challenger.

Wide receiver remains up in the air

There are a lot of reps available at wide receiver. As mentioned in the first camp update, August Pitre III has taken up the majority of the reps with the first team. A new wrinkle, though, has been freshman Zane Knipe forcing his way into the mix. He’s got sticky hands and moves well in the field. He’s a step ahead of some of the returning veterans and he’s just beginning to learn the ins and the outs of the offense.

Rounding out the rest of the starters, Austin Trammell looks as reliable as ever. Bradley Rozner has been steady, but hasn’t yet shown the ability to fully utilize his size downfield. He’s tall, but he’s lankier than Aaron Cephus. He’s going to have to get more physical to meet the demands of the Owls’ offense, which lacks any semblance of size apart from him.

Toughness will be the bedrock of this team

The Oklahoma drill is a favorite at South Main. Energy has been high this week, but things seem to crank up an extra notch when pads start popping. Several veterans flashed during Saturday’s session; Blaze Alldredge, Tyrae Thornton, Justin Gooseberry, Anthony Ekpe, Shea Baker and Clay Servin stood out the most.

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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Rice Football: What we know about the Owls quarterback battle

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Rice football is back on the practice field and, once again, the Owls are holding auditions for their starting quarterback job. Here’s the latest entering camp.

What do we know?

The Rice football staff kept things close to the vest when it came to selecting a starting quarterback last season. Vanderbilt transfer Shawn Stankavage wasn’t officially named the starter until after the season had begun and he’d led the team to their first victory. The players in the mix for the 2019 job are different, but the staff intends to approach things the same way.

Rice Football Season Preview
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Bloomgren refused to rule anyone out by name at the start of fall camp, saying “They all bring something to the table. It’ll be interesting to see how this thing unfolds. We’re going to give them really good chances to get reps with the first group.”

When pressed on who was going to get those chances, Bloomgren highlighted incumbent starter Wiley Green as well as Evan Marshman and incoming grad transfer Tom Stewart from Harvard. Those were the three who took reps with the first team out of the gate. That’s the pool the staff is looking for to start the season opener against Army. Sort of.

Who is Jovoni Johnson?

Johnson was the only quarterback Rice signed in the 2019 class. He’s got a long way to go to learn the offense, but he’s done everything he can since arriving on campus. Quarterbacks coach Robbie Picazo called him “a special, special human being and a great leader that guys really gravitate to.” Bloomgren said he was “seemingly special” and a phenomenal athlete with “a howitzer for an arm.”

That leads to excitement. From what I’m hearing, no member of the incoming class has been more impressive since arriving on campus than Johnson. But, we’re just days into fall camp.

Read more about each of the Owls’ quarterbacks in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview

Green, who won the starting job at the end of last season, didn’t appear in a game until late October. His hindrance wasn’t ability — the staff always believed in that aspect of his game — but rater his ability to process and work through the offense.

“This is a complex offense for the quarterback,” Picazo said, “We put a lot on their plate which I think is outstanding, but it does mean there’s a learning curve.”

More than likely we’ll continue to hear a lot about Johnson as camp progresses. As of right now, though, I’d peg his chances of winning the starting job in August at 5 percent. That’s not because he’s not talented enough to do so, but because of that learning curve and the significant head start of the veterans competing with him. It’s a situation to monitor. Things could change by the time October arrives.

Who is Tom Stewart?

Stewart was the offensive MVP for Harvard last season, an offense which included a host of talented playmakers. Now he’s looking to follow in the footsteps of Shawn Stankavage and win the Rice job in his lone season on campus. He’s got work to do before he achieves that goal.

“I’m just trying to take that one day at a time,” he said after the first practice session. “Today was kind of humbling, getting back on the field.” Stewart broke his foot in the offseason. He doesn’t show any signs of wear now, but the long road back to recovery has been challenging.

He’s going to have his work cut out for him, but it’s too early to rule him out of the competition yet. The coaching staff is just now getting their first looks at him in person and evaluating what he could bring to the offense.

Stewart is confident, but at the end of the day, he wants to make the team better however he can. “I think we’re all naturally competitive guys. We’re all college quarterbacks. We all want to be the best we can be and having a high standard in that room makes everyone better,” he said. “I think all of us approach it the right way and we’re just really focused on making the team better.”

What happens next?

Bloomgren summed up the battle with his trademarked one-liner: “It’s going to be a meritocracy”. That comes as no surprise. I’d be surprised if we get a clear indicator from the coaching staff any time soon. Until then, we’ll keep you posted as this battle continues into camp.

If the Owls had to play a game tomorrow, this is how the depth chart would most likely look:

  1. Green
  2. Stewart
  3. Marshman
  4. Towns
  5. Johnson

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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Rice Football: Early Takeaways from Day 1 of Fall Camp (8/1)

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The first Rice football practice of fall camp is in the books. The Owls had plenty of energy as they flew around the field at Rice Stadium.

The first day of fall camp is in the books. It’s way too early to make any critical observations, but this is the time to offer some guiding thoughts as camp continues to progress. Bloomgren was the first to offer a definitive statement about his teams’ progress to this point. “Today, I got to see a much better product than I did on Day 1 last year in training camp. It’s what we expected, but it’s great to see it,” he said following the conclusion of the Owls’ first practice.

In addition to the overarching positivity, Bloomgren offered a few things he wanted the team to achieve. He set success as the point when the team is “handling their if/then functions” and is able “to make those processes happen even faster.” That’s going to take time, but we’ve got a long way to go before the team kicks off against Army at the end of August.

Rice Football Season Preview
Buy Now | 2019 Rice Preview

1. The freshmen look the part

The new additions to the program all seem to be the kind of “first off the bus” guys, the kind of players who seem to belong on the college field from the start. Guys like Jake Bailey, who battled through multiple vomiting incidents and stayed on the field, learning and cheering on his teammates. Like De’Braylon Carroll who looks like a tank plowing through the line. Like Jovoni Johnson who looked every bit as comfortable in the offense as the vets running drills alongside him.

Several freshmen flashed, making plays throughout practice. The depth chart is more firm entering this season than it was last year, but a few newcomers might force their way into playing time sooner than later. Many are a step ahead of where some of their predecessors were at this point last year — and that class was full of talented players, too.”

2. The wide receiving corps sans Aaron Cephus

There was no sign of Cephus at practice. When asked about Cephus’ status, Bloomgren was mum:

As mentioned in Episode 1 of The Roost Podcast and in our updated 2019 Rice Football Season Preview, August Pitre III was the first man up to fill the open spot on the first team. He, Austin Trammell and Brad Rozner took the majority of the reps with the starters. Behind them, Zane Knipe, Jake Bailey and Chris Boudreaux worked with the twos.

3. Plenty of experienced hands

This team is still going to be young, but there was a noticeable infusion of experienced talent that flashed on the field. Harvard transfers Tom Stewart (quarterback) and Charlie Booker (running back) and Stanford transfers Reagan Williams (fullback) and Brian Chaffin (offensive line) spent time working with the first team. So too did JUCO additions Nick Leverett (offensive line), Naeem Smith (safety) and Rozner (wide receiver).

When asked about his impressions of the first day, Chaffin was all smiles. “I thought it was a great day one,” he said, “It was good to be back on the field.”

Chaffin is one of two transfers who were recruited by Bloomgren at Stanford. His decision to follow his former coach to Houston and help him rebuild Rice seems to already be paying meaningful dividends. Chaffin called the opportunity “a huge honor” adding his endorsement of what the Owls are building. “I think this place is the same model as Stanford. You got great kids, hard working kids who want to do great things on the field and in the classroom. I think that model can happen here… It’s the same mold. We can definitely do big things here. It’s headed in the right direction.”

4. Way too early starters

An official depth chart hasn’t been released yet, but here’s how the first team looked like on both sides of the ball today:

Offense

QB| Green
RB | Otoviano/Booker
TE | Bull
FB | Williams
WR | Trammell, Rozner, Pitre
OL | Servin, Leverett, Baker, Garcia, Osuji

Defense

DL | Orji, Garcia, My. Adams, Schuman
LB | Alldredge, Montero
CB | Ellis, Bird
Saf | Nyakwol, Calderon, Chamberlain (Viper)

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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The Roost Podcast | Episode 1 – 2019 Rice Football schedule review

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We’re excited to introduce The Roost Podcast, hosted by Rice grad and football guru Carter Spires and Matthew Bartlett, Director and Managing Editor from The Roost. In our first episode, we take a big-picture view of the upcoming Rice Football season and talk through the opportunities (and challenges) provided to the Owls with their challenging opening schedule.

It’s been a busy summer for The Roost. We launched our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview and The Roost Shop with shirts and gear. Yet again, there’s more. Give a listen to the first episode below.


Episode 1 Notes
  • Host introduction
  • Aaron Cephus’ suspension
  • 2019 Schedule outlook
  • Season expectations
  • One thing we’re looking for
Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. At the moment the show is available on Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. We’re in the process of getting things set up with iTunes and Google Play and expect to have those channels operational soon.

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2020 Rice Football Recruiting Class well positioned as summer ends

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After a successful summer, the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting heads into the fall with record-setting aspirations. #FlightSchool20 is taking off.

The countdown to fall camp has reached single digits. The 2019 Rice Football team will hit the ground running for their first day of practice on August 1. The return of football signifies a shift in the recruiting cycle as well. Once practices wrap up and September arrives the final sprint to the early signing period in December will begin in earnest.

That time will come. First, a quick snapshot of what the Rice Football staff has built so far.

According to 247 Sports, the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class is the third-best class in Conference USA and a Top-75 class in the nation. If the Owls can hold those marks, it’ll be their best finish in both regards since the service began compiling class rankings.

Rice has yet to finish with a recruiting cycle ranked in the top four of their conference. Their highwater mark in the national rankings came in 2009 when they finished 83rd. That class was highlighted by QB Taylor McHargue, CB Phillip Gaines and placekicker Chris Boswell.

The 2019 class was filled with potential gamebreakers like De’Braylon Carroll, Izeya Floyd, Jawan King and others. [Read more about our freshmen breakout candidates in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview]. The 2020 class might be even more star-studded than their predecessors.

Even with a departure from the class in late July, the 2020 class is star-studded. Safety Plae Wyatt and corner Sean Fresch are going to be differen makers in the secondary. Wide receiver Andrew Mason and running back Khalan Griffin are offensive weapons. And the intensity of guys like Geron Hargon and Braedon Nutter is through the roof.

All things considered, Rice is poised to enter the fall in an excellent position for a historic class. Things are looking up at South Main. Who’s next?

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