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Rice Football Recruiting: Offensive lineman John Long commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has landed its second commitment in a week. Offensive lineman John Long has committed to the Owls.

Intellectual Brutality is at the core of the Rice football recruiting philosophy. The desire to win in the trenches led to the first commit of the 2021 class, offensive lineman Faaeanuu Pepe. Ethan Onianwa was the next offensive lineman to join the fold. The Owls added their third big man up front today with the commitment of Lampasas guard John Long.

Long commits to Rice football just three days removed from his first official offer. Long was offered on Oct. 11 and pulled the trigger soon after, committing on Oct. 14. He’s the second member of the 2021 class to commit within a week of receiving his offer from the Owls. Wide receiver Peyton Stevenson committed one week following his offer in mid-September.

Long chose Rice football over offers from UCF, Tulane and North Texas. Beating out a Conference USA peer and two prominent AAC programs is notable for the Owls who continue to raise their recruiting profile as they bring in waves of new talent with each successive recruiting class.

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Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 300 pounds, Long looks the part of a people mover in the offensive trenches. He marks the 15th commitment in the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class, the third on the offensive line and the seventh offensive commit.

Long is a powerful off the line of scrimmage, capable of pushing defenders around. For a big guy, he’s fairly fleet of foot, pulling from the line and getting out in front as a lead blocker in space. He creates massive holes in the running game, something Rice running backs will appreciate when they have the opportunity to run behind his pads.

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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO DL AJ Sargent commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has picked up its first JUCO addition. Defensive lineman AJ Sargent has committed to the Owls.

The summer is in the books and Rice football is in the home stretch for its 2021 recruiting class. The early signing period is two months away and its time for Rice, and their peers to begin finishing up their classes. Rice has already turned some of its attention to offers for the 2022 class ($).  Rice entered October with a Top 5 class in Conference USA and 13 commitments from high school recruits.

On Saturday they added their first junior college player to the fold. Coffeyville C.C. defensive lineman AJ Sargent has committed to the Owls. Rice offered Sargent in September. The Owls’ primary competition for Sargent was an offer from Missouri State.

Sargent will provide a much-needed injection of talent on the interior of the defensive line where numbers have grown a bit thin. De’Braylon Carroll is the Owls’ only interior defender with meaningful game experience that won’t be a senior this coming fall. Adding someone who can contribute quickly will be a big building block for this class.

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Beyond what he can do in the fall of 2021, Sargent is expected to enroll early. He’ll be on campus for the upcoming semester, ensuring he’ll be available for spring practice next February/March. Getting transfers on campus early is always a plus. Head coach Mike Bloomgren acknowledge its benefits multiple times this spring when grad transfer Mike Collins saw his first action on the field with the Owls.

For Sargent, it only takes one quick glance through the film to see how impactful he could be at South Main. The 6-foot-1, 290-pound tackle sheds blockers quickly and has great pursuit. Having him and Carroll along the same front could prove to be a powerful combination for the Owls in the trenches.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Owls add to early list of 2022 offers

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Rice football has extended four offers to prospective members of the 2022 class, including three more this week.

The second, third and fourth offers of the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class have been extended. One of the Owls earliest commitments in the 2021 class (linebacker DJ Arkansas) was an October offer, and Rice beat out an Arkansas offer for his services. The Owls hope getting in early with some of their top targets will pay dividends down the road.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2021 class already proving its worth

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class was announced on National Signing Day. Eight months later, they’ve become fixtures on the Owls’ roster.

On National Signing Day, head coach Mike Bloomgren addressed the media and fans with a beaming smile. For the first time since the process began more than a year ago, he could talk publically about the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class.

“According to all the experts, this is the highest-rated class in Rice history,” Bloomgren said with confidence, referring to the rankings compiled by 247 sports.

For college football coaches, a new signing class is something akin to new children. None have ever done anything less than sing the praises of their newest additions. Bloomgren, however, doesn’t have to stand on platitudes or flowery language. The players he and his staff have signed have done enough during their time in high school to warrant merit of their own.

Incoming freshman safety Gabe Taylor is the highest-rated recruit Rice football has ever signed. Along the way, Rice signed a collective of players with offers from Washington State, Colorado, NC State, Syracuse,  Boston College, Kansas State, Houston and more. The Owls took their national recruiting mandate seriously, scouring the country for the talent they needed. Then they worked tirelessly for months to ensure those players signed on the dotted line.

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With the exception of roughly a dozen players remaining from the class prior to Bloomgren’s arrival, the 2020 roster will be comprised almost entirely of players his staff handpicked. “I think we’ve [raised the ceiling and the floor],” Bloomgren said in early February. “[There’s] a little bit different speed than we’re used to having in this program.” From the speed to the raw athleticism, the talent profile of the current Rice football roster is as high as it’s been in some time.

In many ways, Rice football has come a long way from National Signing Day. They’ve persevered through uncertainty to the brink of their 2020 season. Injuries and setbacks have put their depth to the test early on in fall camp.

Players like Brad Rozner, Naeem Smith and Andrew Bird were expected to be key members of the team. None have participated in team drills so far during camp. Instead, it’s been members of that 2021 class stepping up. Gabe Taylor has had his moments, so to have freshmen corners Jordan Dunbar and Sean Fresch. With running back Juma Otoviano sidelined, Khalan Griffin and Kobie Campbell have shined bright. Braedon Nutter has played everywhere on the interior of the offensive line.

Bloomgren and his staff had high hopes for the class of 2021 when they signed. They might not have expected them to make their mark this early, but this class is proving to be just what the doctor ordered.

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Rice Football: 2021 Wide Receiver MJ Singleton commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has doubled down at wide receiver, adding Texas-native MJ Singleton to the fold.

Through the end of August, Rice Football had no wide receivers commitments in their 2021 recruiting class. Then Peyton Stevenson from Demopolis, Alabama made his pledge to the Owls. Not a week later, the Owls added another wideout to their class with the commitment of MJ Singleton from Lubbock, Tx.

Singleton committed to Rice over offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian. The Owls have been willing to call their shot on players they like. It was no mistake they were the first FBS school in Texas to offer and the quick turnaround on the commitment is further evidence the interest was mutual.

Singleton said Rice “made me feel welcomed.” He’s looking forward to taking advantage of all that Rice had to offer. He cited those chances as one of the reasons behind his decision. “The coaches made me feel wanted,” he said,”Also, Rice gives me many great opportunities for my future outside of football.

The addition of Singleton brings the Owls up to 13 commitments in the 2021 class, the fourth most in Conference USA. 247 Sports has Rice ranked as the No. 4 class in the conference at the time of Singleton’s commitment but has yet to dish assign rankings for him, Stevenson or safety commit Marcus Williams.

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Singleton is a different kind of receiver then the Owls’ other wideout commit, Stevenson. The newly added Texas native is a speedster. At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, he’s going to fly off the line of scrimmage and force defensive backs to beat him in a foot race (and they probably won’t).

The high school track star is a trained sprinter. He’s going to get up and running in a hurry and give Rice even more speed to work with in the coming years. Wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw has been adamant about getting faster since he took over the job last year. So far, so good.

Singleton is fast, but he’s far from a one-trick pony. In addition to excelling with the ball in space, he’s confident when the ball is in the air and will fight for the football. He and Stevenson make a great combo at the position.

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