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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.

Premium: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

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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Rice Football: 2021 Wide Receiver Peyton Stevenson commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has picked up their first commitment from a wide receiver. Alabama native Peyton Stevenson has committed to the Owls.

Rice football has been on the hunt for pass catchers to add to the 2021 class for some time. Tight end Jaggar Hebeisen was one of the first in the fold during the spring, but the Owls had yet to secure a pledge from a wide receiver as the calendar crept out of the summer and towards the fall.

Then Rice offered Demopolis, AL wide receiver Peyton Stevenson on Sep. 10. A week later the big-bodied pass catcher had pledged his commitment to the Owls. Stevenson will fill a pressing need on the outside, giving Rice some more options to “rebound” and outjump defenders in the redzone. Brad Rozner has taken up that role for the time being, but he won’t be around forever.

With his decision, Stevenson becomes the second quickest from offer to commit in the 2021 recruiting class. Only Ethan Onianwa who committed two days after his offer was quicker. The rest of class, which is likely more typical of college recruiting these days, took weeks to sift through their options. Stevenson clearly knew what he was after an made the jump.

“The academic excellence as well as the high caliber football is what initially turned my head,” Stevenson said, “I was also comfortable with the coaching staff because of the way they communicated and the effort they put into me and my family. I felt like it was a great opportunity, and I’m glad to be a part of the family!”

Premium: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Rice also continued their trend of identifying talent early. The Owls were the first FBS program to offer Stevenson, who also had offers from Jacksonville State, North Alabama and Culver-Stockton and the time of his Rice commitment.

Versatility is a huge plus in the Rice football offense. Stevenson’s playmaking ability with the ball in his hands as a quarterback will only aid to what he’s able to do as a wide receiver. This was a good pickup for the Owls who now have 12 commitments and a Top 5 class among their Conference USA peers.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Owls hand out two new 2021 offers

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Two offers were extended this week to prospective members of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class, one on each side of the ball.

For the first time in roughly a month, Rice football extended new offers toward members of the 2021 class. Prior to the Owls offering this pair, Rice hadn’t offered anyone since offers to wide receiver MJ Singleton and offensive lineman Graham Keating on August 7.

You can find the latest on all of the Owls’ offers for this class as well links to highlights, recruiting services and commitment profiles on our Offer Tracker. This list is updated daily and reserved for our subscribers.

WR Peyton Stevenson – Demopolis, AL

The Owls don’t have a wide receiver in the fold in this class yet but they have a few uncommitted targets they’re still working on. In particular, the roster needs someone with size to fill the outside role behind Brad Rozner in the future.

Stevenson fits that mold. He’s 6-foot-3, 190-pounds with some vertical ability. He’s versatile, also lining up at corner and some quarterback. No matter where the ball is, he’s ready and willing to push through contact.

Rice was the first FBS school to offer Stevenson. Prior to the Owls, his existing offers included Jacksonville State, North Alabama and Culver-Stockton.

DL AJ Sargent – Wichita Falls, TX

Size also seems to be a priority for the Owls along the offensive line. Current commits Elroyal Morris (6-foot-2, 270-pounds) and Blake Boenisch (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) make for a sturdy foundation up front. Rice would like to add another big guy to that mix in Sargent

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 290 pounds, Sargent is able to make plays from the interior as well as the outside. Missouri State was the only school to offer him before the Owls swooped in this week.

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Rice Football Recruiting: First glimpse at 2022 recruits of interest

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The 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class officially has players “on our radar”. Who are they and what should we make of these new names?

September 1 marked the first day of permissible contact for the Rice Football recruiting staff and the class of 2022. If you follow The Roost on Twitter (and you should), you saw a flurry of graphics that looked similar to this one.

If you scroll through the feed, you’ll see more than 30 posts from 2022 players who were contacted by the staff on Tuesday. I saved you some time and compiled all of those names in the doc below. I’ve also attached 247 Profile pages where applicable and highlight links. If this looks familiar, that’s how the Offer Tracker is structured.

I won’t keep you from the list, but I did want to make a few observations first.

1. These aren’t offers

Rice is uber-selective with their offers. The Owls are three months from the Early Signing Period for the 2021 recruiting class and they’ve only handed out 56 offers to that class. Rice will be equally choosy with this next wave of athletes. Now, being “on our radar” this early is a good indicator that some of these players will get offered down the road, but as of Tuesday evening, these should all be viewed as players of interest.

2. Quarterbacks lead the way

It’s no mistake you’ll see seven quarterbacks listed below. Rice has yet to recruit, develop and establish a starting quarterback under Mike Bloomgren. So far it’s been an array of transfers that have had most of the success. JoVoni Johnson could be that guy. So too could current commit Shawqi Itraish. But make no mistake, Rice is going to aim high at quarterback in 2022.

3. Quiet in the secondary

Rice probably won’t need to hit the secondary too hard in 2022. They have a young core at the safety position and corner already on campus with a pair of safeties committed in the 2021 class. With three freshmen corners in the 2020 class, Rice will probably opt to focus moreso on the defensive front this go around, something evident in the 10 defensive linemen featured on the list.

4. Texan based with out-of-state flavor

The Owls have done a good job maintaining a Texas base while still developing roots out of state. 21 of the 34 players on the list play in Texas. Out-of-state players hail from Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia.

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