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The Roost Podcast | Ep 139 – Rice Football 2023 Signing Day and Roster Evals

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National Signing Day is in the books and the 2023 Rice football is starting to take shape. We break it all down in this week’s show.

Three new players were announced on National Singing Day, bringing the 2023 Rice Football class to 27 official additions with a few more coming down the road. With the class more or less finished, we take a look at the group and evaluate the roster entering the spring, taking things position by position.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 139.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

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2023 Rice Football National Signing Day and Roster Recap

  • CB coach Gerard Wilcher accepts head coaching job at Morehouse College
  • Reviewing the three new additions plus one additional commitment
    • OL Lavell Dumont
    • P/K Reese Keeney
    • LS Wyatt Freeman
    • WR Matt Sykes
  • Evaluating the roster as a whole. Which position groups are we the most confident in? Which groups have the most question marks entering the spring?

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Former Rice Football DL Ikenna Enechukwu shines at Shrine Bowl

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Former Rice football defensive lineman Ikenna Enechuwku impressed at the East-West Shrine Bowl this week, showcasing his talents in front of NFL scouts and draft analysts.

Hosted every winter, the East-West Shrine Bowl is the longest-running college all-star football game in the nation. Collegiate standouts get a week of hands-on practice and interviews with NFL coaching staff, culminating in an exhibition game to showcase their skills. For NFL hopefuls, it’s an extremely important event, one which former Rice Football defensive lineman Ikenna Enechukwu took full advantage of this week.

Hosted in Las Vegas, NV as a part of the NFL Pro Bowl Week, members of the coaching staffs of the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots provide hands-on instruction and coached the players during the week and the game itself. Interfacing with NFL personnel is one of the most important benefits of the week, but making your mark on the field is important, too.

Enechuwku drew rave reviews all week. Here’s a sampling of what NFL evaluators and analysts were saying about his performance and potential pro future.

Compliments were everywhere. Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings called Enechukwu a “violent, hyperactive rusher with length” also adding that he was “consistently disruptive with his prying length and high-energy athleticism.” Enechukwu got a shout-out in the New England Patriots’ postgame takeaways for this pressure which set up a sack.

The NFL Draft takes place on Thursday, April 27 and runs through Saturday, April 29. Enechukwu hopes to be the first Rice football player drafted since defensive lineman Christian Covington was selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

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Rice Football Recruiting: ’24 DL Armstrong Nnodim commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class is growing quickly with another commitment. Defensive lineman Armstrong Nnodim has committed to the Owls.

Not long after getting the first commitment in this cycle, the 2024 Rice football recruiting class has doubled down, landing its first defensive pledge. Defensive lineman Armstrong Nnodim has committed to the Owls.

Nnodim’s announcement comes on the heels of a commitment from Cy Fair wideout Owen Carter, who made his decision public four days prior. Getting two impact players this early in the cycle makes for a strong start. Both Nnodim and Carter represent a strong base for the Owls to build upon as they work towards another strong class.

Rice was the first to offer Carter but even though it was early in the recruiting calendar, the Owls had competition for Nnodim. The 6-foot-1, 245-pound defensive lineman had seven offers so far including soon-to-be fellow AAC foe UTSA as well as Arkansas State. Beating the Roadrunners head-to-head on the recruiting front is always a good thing.

Neither Nnodim nor Carter have been assigned recruiting rankings just yet, but based on total commitments alone, the Owls have pulled even with UCF and USF with two members of the 2024 class committed so far. No other program has more than one listed, including crosstown rival Houston.

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Nnodim jumps out immediately on film. For one, he’s not a small man who had two-pick sixes on his resume this season in addition to his havoc plays on the quarterback himself. He’s already got a few impressive pass-rush moves in his arsenal and can win with speed and strength. A multi-sport athlete, Nnodim’s athleticism stands out by a wide margin.

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Rice Football: CBs coach Gerard Wilcher to Morehouse College

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There has reportedly been some change on the Rice football staff. Corners coach Gerard Wilcher is set to become the head coach at Morehouse College.

First reported by Pete Thamel, Rice corners coach Gerard Wilcher is expected to become the next head coach at Morehouse College. Wilcher is a Morehouse alum and has been on staff at Rice since the beginning of head coach Mike Bloomgren’s tenure.

Wilcher has been instrumental in a resurgence in the corner room including the development of promising young corners Jordan Dunbar and Sean Fresch.

Bloomgren acknowledged the move on Twitter, saying this: “Really happy for G and Ayanna. Thankful for their time and hard work at Rice. Go crush it for the Maroon Tigers! #RFND”

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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking down the 2023 signees – Offense

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The 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class started with a quarterback and continued to add offensive firepower. Here’s how this side of the ball stacks up.

Rice signed 24 players during the Early Signing Period. Of those players, 18 are current high school seniors and 15 of them play on the offensive side of the focal point of this update. We’ve gone position by position breaking down each of the new Owls and how they’ll help the program on the field. We’ll also account for a few names added on National Signing Day.

* designate early enrollees

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Quarterback (2) – JT Daniels*, Chase Jenkins*

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