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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 National Signing Day Recap

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The 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class included two National Signing Day splashes. Here’s where the Owls stand with the class mostly complete.

Rice added four newly committed players on National Signing Day. JUCO linebacker Jaren Banks and Stanford kicker Collin Riccitelli, both of whom committed earlier in the week, made their decisions official as did two newcomers in the secondary.

Early Wednesday morning, Rice signed Gulliver Prep defensive back Gabe Taylor, the highest-rated player in program history. Later in the day, they added corner Lamont Narcisse, another Top 10 player the school has ever signed.

Several walk ons who have yet to be officially announced will be added to the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class as well. Many won’t be expected to be significant onfield contributors anytime soon, but it’s worth remembering that center Issac Klarkowski and corner Tre’shon Devones each walked on last season and started multiple games for the Owls.

The New Signees

Taylor and Narcisse give Rice a rather impressive haul in the secondary. That pair, along with previously signed Sean Fresch, Jordan Dunbar and Plae Wyatt, should serve as much-needed reinforcements on the back end of the defense.

More: Breaking down the Rice Football recruiting 2020 defensive signees (UPDATED)

The Owls did a much better job of keeping balls in front of them in 2019, but still ranked 13th in C-USA in passing defense, allowing 241.9 yards per game. A sturdy safety corps manned by George Nyakwol, Naeem Smith and Prudy Calderon provides a strong base. Finding corners who can win on their own seems to be the missing ingredient. Hopefully one or both of Taylor and Narcisse can rise to the occasion.

Star-studded

247 Sports is the most unanimously accepted measuring stick among recruiting services. A star rating from their service isn’t infallible, but it’s a great guide on a macro level. By that standard, the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class is the highest-rated in program history. Better still, four of the top 13 commits to ever sign with the program will be on campus this fall.

No. 1. DB Gabe Taylor
No. 6 ATH Jake Bailey
No. 7 CB Lamont Narcisse
No. 12 ATH Sean Fresch

Taylor, Narcisse and Fresch weren’t outliers, rather they were part of a larger group of extremely talented players.

Room to Improve

The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class is the No. 9 class in Conference USA. That’s a step up from the No. 11 class in 2019 and from No. 12 in 2018, but not the gigantic leap many were expecting. When the Early Signing Period was approaching in December, Rice had a top-two class and we were talking about the makings of what could become the best class in school history.

The decline in rankings is linked more to the number of signees than anything else. The Owls have signed 21 scholarship players so far. On Wednesday, Bloomgren detailed they would not fill the full 25. The recruiting services weight the quality as well as the quantity of players in signing classes.

More: Breaking down the Rice Football recruiting 2020 offense and special teams signees (UPDATED)

Of the C-USA programs with 20 or fewer high school and JUCO signees like Rice, the Owls’ rank third. If Rice were to sign 25 players eligible for the 247 ratings, they would assuredly finish within the Top 5, at worst. But gaming the rankings aren’t of interest to the Rice coaching staff, nor should they be. They have bigger fish to fry.

So what’s next?

What Rice lacks in this class was a singular top-end super-star to put them over the top. It would be nice to see Rice land a Power 5 transfer with top-end talent and a track record of success at the Division 1 level. The Owls are looking at some skill position players on offense right now and are optimistic they’ll be able to sign one before summer workouts get underway. That would put a bow on a great 2020 recruiting cycle.

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Rice Football Recruiting: What to expect from National Signing Day 2020

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Here’s where the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class stands on the eve of National Signing Day and some notes on what to expect down the stretch.

The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class signed 17 members during the Early Signing Period in December. That left the Owls with plenty of room to bolster their class over the last several weeks. The Owls did that on multiple fronts, including bringing in two buses full of players over the final official visit weekend of this recruiting cycle.

More: Rice football 2020 recruiting class commitment list

When the dust settled, Rice added several more players to their 2020 class. Announcements began to trickle out in the hours after the visits came to a close. Rice also added two transfers. Former Stanford kicker Collin Riccitelli will play his final season at South Main. JUCO linebacker Jaren Banks also made his pledge to play for the Owls.

That was a good start, but the 2020 Rice football recruiting class is far from done. Here’s what to expect on National Signing Day and weeks to come.

1. More commitments

With the final visit and National Signing Day falling so close together, expect to see additional announcements on Wednesday. Rice will close strong, following a pattern of impactful finishes the program has strung together of late. Rice announced and signed their highest-rated recruit of the 2019 class (wide receiver Jake Bailey) on National Signing Day, beating out Power 5 schools in the process. That could happen again this year.

2. A complete class…

Rice had already addressed most of the notable gaps during the early signing period. They found lineman in droves, plenty of speed on both sides of the ball and a pair of quarterbacks to solidify depth at that position. On Wednesday, there shouldn’t be any singular position that feels neglected compared to the roster construction or expectations.

3. … With room to spare

But — and it could be a big but — Rice won’t be done. Like they did last year, the Owls will continue to add to their 2020 class until the very last moment. Rice brought in players as late as early Summer in 2019 and they’ll most likely do it again this year. The Owls are scouring the Transfer Portal and keeping in close contact with players who, for one reason or another, might not be ready to make any formal announcements in February.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Flurry of offers go out at 2021 Junior Day

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Several new offers were handed out over the weekend to prospective members of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class. Here’s a rundown of Junior Day.

Entering the weekend, the offer list for the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class was extremely short:

Wyatt Begeal – QB – Cibolo Steele (TX)
Mason Tharp – TE – Klein (TX)
DJ Arkansas – LB – Denton Ryan (TX)
Bryce McMorris – DB – Bridgeland (TX)

The Owls expanded that shortlist to 14 names, offering these additional 10 players.

Jordon Vaughn – RB – Manvel (TX)
Bryson Reeves – WR – St. Francis (CA)
De’Kedrick Sterns – OL – Del Valle (TX)
Jacoby Jackson – OL – Mansfield Summit (TX)
Davis McKenna – OL – Marist (GA)
Remington Strickland – OL – Fort Bend Christian Academy (TX)
Aidan Siano – LB – Prosper (TX)
Kenny Seymour – LB – Fort Bend Marshall (TX)
Placide Djungu-Sungu – Saf – Arlington Martin (TX)
Trevor Woods – Saf – Katy Taylor (TX)

The crop of offensive line offers is an important place to start. Rice needs to get depth up front and they’re looking to make sure that depth has plenty of upside. Each of the four offers has prototypical size with room to grow: Jacoby Jackson is 6-foot-5.5, 306 pounds, Davis KcKenna is 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Remington Strickland is 6-foot-3, 294 pounds and De’Kedrick Sterns is 6-foot-4, 250 pounds.

Jordan Vaugh is extremely versatile and could slot in several places. Rice likes him at running back. Bryson Reeves has much-needed size (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) at the wide receiver position. Rice was the first to offer both of those guys, and first on six of their 10 offers over the weekend. They’ve developed a proven track record of identifying talent rather and they stuck too that this weekend.

On defense, Rice absolutely loves this group of linebackers offers. Kenny Seymour and Aidan Siano, along with DJ Arkansas, all look like potential game changers at the position. Seymour is built like a truck and plays downhill. Siano has a nose for the football and great pursuit.

Woods and Djunu-Sungu round out the new offers in the secondary. Both are potential safety prospects who would be excellent fits in Brian Smith’s defense.

At this point last year, Rice had handed out a few offers for their 2020 class, prioritizing their first wave of selections. Plae Wyatt was the first to jump on board, committing to Rice at the end of February. The groundwork Rice laid this weekend was significant. Don’t be surprised if the Owls’ first commitment of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class was in this wave.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 Early Signing Period Roundup

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class had an eventful December. Here’s an overview of The Roost’s coverage of the Owls’ newest additions.

The New Year will bring another flurry of activity for the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. The Owls have another half dozen or so spots to hand out in the class, earmarking several of them for high-profile graduate transfers. Before we look ahead, don’t miss the impressive haul already in the fold. Here’s a rundown of the big week.

Five players committed to Rice in December:

In total, Rice signed 17 players during the early signing period. 11 of those were on offense, with the remaining six on defense. Only one commit,FB Brian Hibbard remains unsigned. He is expected to sign in February.

We broke down several angles of this class, from the 10,000-foot view to position by position analysis. On the macro perspective, here are five takeaways from the 2020 class as it currently stands. Rice addressed their biggest needs and won some impressive head to head battles on their way to constructing what could be a program-altering class.

More specifically, here’s a snapshot of the defensive haul and of the commits on the offensive side of the ball.

If you’re traveling over the holidays, and you’ve already read through the written analysis, make sure you give The Roost Podcast a listen. Carter and I worked through the impact of the incoming players, honing in on how each player would fit at Rice among others at their position.

The Roost Podcast | Ep. 22 – Rice Football Early Signing Period

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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking down the 2020 signees – Defense

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National Signing Day is in the books and the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting is jam-packed with defensive talent. Here’s an update on that side of the ball.

Defensive Line (2) – Cole Latos, Jalen Reeves

Getting to the quarterback has been a challenge for Rice in each of the past two seasons. Their 32 sacks are the fewest by any C-USA team over the past two years and 22 sacks fewer than the conference average over that span. The leader over the time, UAB, registered 3.4 sacks per game whereas Rice managed 1.3 per contest.

With Anthony Ekpe in the Transfer Portal and senior defensive tackle Myles Adams departing, Rice needs to find players who can become difference makers quickly at this position. Early returns look extremely favorable for the Owls, who landed two potential game-changing players here in the early signing period.

When they offered Cole Latos, there was uncertainty as to which side of the ball he would play on in college. His physicality and stature quickly endeared him to the Rice coaching staff. Bloomgren spoke of him as a player with legitimate “NFL measurables”. Latos settled in this season, pairing the body type with the production on the field. He’s emerged as someone the Owls have full confidence in plugging at defensive end.

More: The Roost Podcast – 2019 Rice Football end of season awards

The home run swing could come in the form of fellow edge rusher Jalen Reeves. His offer list was impressive — LSU, Syracuse, NC State, Pitt and Boston College, among others — but it only took him one day on campus to decide this was the place for him. Reeves is a true havoc wreaker with a proven track record of harassing quarterbacks. If any of the current commits in the front seven becomes an early star, it’s safe to bet on Reeves to break through quickly.

Reeves’ recruitment had a very “De’Braylon Carroll” feel to it. The entire time both players were being courted by the Owls, the questions being asked behind the scenes were “This guy is too good and he’s dominating everyone he plays. Why hasn’t anyone picked him up already?” Carroll ended up on the Pro Football Focus All-Freshman team playing behind Myles Adams this season. It kind of feels like that might be Reeves’ floor, especially considered the size of the potential opportunity.

Linebacker (2) – Geron Hargon, Jaren Banks

Rice has relied on a two-linebacker set for most of their defensive snaps. As long as Blaze Alldredge and Antonio Montero are on campus, the need for additional reinforcements at that decision won’t be too high, especially with guys like Garrett Grammer ready in the reserves.

The staff had some liberty to be particularly choosy with their linebacker offers, ultimately zeroing in Geron Hargon, who picked Rice over UAB, and JUCO product Jaren Banks

Hargon is a prototypical mike linebacker, capable of traversing the whole field from side to side and moving quickly to the ballcarrier in space. His senior season ended abruptly with an ACL injury, but not before Hargon could put an exclamation point on his high school career. Hargon returned to the game after the injury, scooping up a fumble and rumbling down the field for a defensive touchdown.

Banks spent two seasons in the JUCO ranks, improving from Year 1 to Year 2. The staff hopes to see the same progression as he plays out his remaining two seasons of eligibility at South Main. Coach Bloomgren profiled him in accordance with Antonio Montero, a “ballhawk” with “the ability to run and hit”. The ball finds him.

Safety (2) – Plae Wyatt, Gabe Taylor

Safety is another spot where the team has plenty of depth. The playmaking ability of Naeem Smith and the reliability of George Nyakwol combine for arguably one of the better safety duos in Conference USA. And that’s prior to considering Treshawn Chamberlain’s breakout season at the Viper spot. Rice was more than happy to ride their commitment of Plae Wyatt to his signing on Wednesday.

Wyatt was the first commitment of the 2020 class and stuck to his word for 10 months when he made it official by signing his letter of intent. A four-year varsity starter, Wyatt is a hard hitter, comfortable making plays on ball carriers in space. His coverage game continues to progress, making him one of the better all-around players in an impressive 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. There’s as much depth to his game as any of the Owls’ defensive signees.

Getting to study under players like Smith and Chamberlain will only elevate his already strong game. Like both of those two, he has a similar ballhawking-style to his game.

More: Breaking down the Rice Football recruiting 2020 offense and special teams signees (UPDATED)

Gabe Taylor was the signature addition of National Signing Day. His addition helped make the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class the highest rated in school history. Taylor somehow managed to fly under the radar after only playing one year of high school football. That’s likely the only reason Rice was able to land him. Now he’s the highest-rated signee in Rice football program history.

Taylor posted a gaudy 10 interceptions as a senior, returning half of them for touchdowns. That’s an absurd stat line at any level of football. The younger brother of the late Sean Taylor, Gabe is rooted in football and ready to make a name for himself.

Corner (3) – Sean Fresch, Jordan Dunbar, Lamont Narcisse

Jordan Dunbar was the first corner in the 2020 class, making his pledge to the Owls early in the summer. Listed at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Dunbar is a great cover man who will instantly bolster the corner room. He has the size and skills to play on the edge at this level.

The second cornerback signee, Sean Fresch, was on campus for the Owls’ junior day this summer. The staff didn’t let him leave without an offer, and for good reason. They saw him run a 4.39 and already knew how good he was on the field. As it stands, he’s also the third highest-rated commitment of the Mike Bloomgren era.

Recall back to when Tre’shon Devones turned heads when he won a starting corner job midway through the 2019 season. 2020 signee Sean Fresch could be right behind him. A high school quarterback, Fresch is one of the most dynamic players in the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. It doesn’t take more than a glance at his film to see how versatile and game-breaking he can be for the Owls. He’s quick with plenty of extension, a state qualifier in the long jump during this past track season.

Landing those two was a good start, but Rice fortified the position with Lamont Narcisse who picked Rice over Washington State. Narcisse has elite speed. He’s someone Bloomgren described as “a true cover corner”, one that Rice could trust to win one-on-one battles as soon as this upcoming fall.

Last update: Feb. 5, 2020
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