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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 DL DeMone Green commits to Owls

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The 2022 Rice Football recruiting class added one more on the seond day of the Early Signing Period, landing a commitment from defensive lineman DeMone Green.

All though most of the branding tends to label the third Wednesday in the month of Decemeber “Signing Day”, it’s truly the first of a three-day window officially refered to as the Early Signing Period. While it’s true that most of the action happened in the morning hours as soon as pen was allowed to hit paper, the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class was just getting started.

The Owls added one more new face to their 2022 haul on Thursday, landing a commiment from Heights High School defense lineman DeMone Green. The star-commit gives Rice 12 additions in the Early Signing Period to date. Green had previously announced offers from Arkansas, Tennessee and Houston.

Green gives the Owls’ a nasty trio of defensive lineman from the high school ranks. Interior man Davion Carter and end Chibby Nwajuaku both signed with Rice on Wednesday. Depth at that position was imperative and Rice has now sufficiently checked those boxes.

The 2022 class was going to be small, making every spot all that more important. Green absolutely earned his ticket and should be a contributer down the line soon enough.

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Green has strength and quickness off the edge, and that’s something that’s only going to grow as he works with strength coach Hans Straub. He spends more time in the backfield on his highlights than he does with his hand in the dirt, something Rice fans will appreciate once he arrives on campus.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 104 – 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class review

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The 2022 Rice Football recruiting class signed this week. Who are the new Owls and how will they impact the program moving forward?

The final edition of The Roost Podcast this fall has been recorded, and we closed things out with a bang. This week Carter and Matthew break down the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class, analyzing the big names that are expected to arrive at South Main in the near future as well as what outstanding players and positions the Owls might target for their final few spots.

On the whole, Rice signed another impressive class. Make sure to subscribe on Patreon to get access to our position-by-position deep dives in the coming days.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 104.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes updates from fall camp, practices and more.
      Become a Patron!
  • 2022 Rice Football Recruiting Class – We take a big picture view of the class, walking through how each player fits the current roster and who might be the top candidates to see the field sooner rather than later. Key topics included:
    • Where this class stacks up against previous classes from a rankings perspective
    • The profile of athlete Rice has recruited in recent years
    • What additional players Rice might look to add before the 2022 season begins

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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2022 Rice Football Recruiting class nets Owls another historic haul

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The 2022 Rice Football recruiting class is the latest in a run of top-flight classes for the Owls and head coach Mike Bloomgren is embracing it.

We’ve all heard the refrain at some point in the season from one coach or another. You know how it goes. Whether it be preseason rankings, in-season polls, etc. When any given coach takes the podium he’ll offer comments like “We’re focused on us” and “one game at a time.” That’s what made how Mike Bloomgren handled the 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class so refreshing.

Bloomgren didn’t beat around the bush or deny that he and his team weren’t aware of how those outside the hedges perceived his program. He welcomed it, directly referencing the 247 Sports recruiting rankings in his opening address. “The two classes before I was hired here in 2016 ranked 129th in the nation, in 2017 they ranked 122nd. In each successive year, we’ve been able to raise that bar.”

The numbers bear that out. As it currently stands, the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class is the second-highest rated class in program history, trailing only the 2020 class. The fourth highest-rated class (2021) and the sixth highest-rated class (2019) also came in Bloomgren’s tenure. While the results on the field haven’t been up to level Bloomgren and his staff would like, the off-field metrics are skyrocketing.

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Rice football has signed three straight Top 100 classes. That’s something Rice hasn’t done since 2012-2014. Six of the highest-rated signees in program history (Gabe Taylor – No. 1, DJ Arkansas – 7, Jake Bailey – 8, Rawson MacNeill – 11, Sean Fresch – 14, Davion Carter 18) have been Bloomgren’s guys. The three who have been on campus for more than one season were all starters by Year 2.

Beyond the rankings, the players they signed fit extremely well into what the Owls are building. It’s entirely possible that each of the three currently announced transfers could be opening day starters when Rice visits USC to kick off the 2022 season.

The “glaring” gap Bloomgren and the staff identified was the kicking game. They brought in Washington transfer Tim Horn to address it. The running back room cycled through several lead guys last year. Enter JUCO RB Dean Connors. August Pitre left in the Transfer Portal this month. Incoming Tulsa transfer Sam Crawford profiles as a bigger, healthier, faster player with a much better track record of health.

More: 2022 Rice Football Recruiting Early Signing Period Live Blog

On the high school front. players like defensive lineman Davion Carter and Chibby Nwajuaku have the potential to fight for playing time quickly. Others like wideout Rawson MacNeill and offensive lineman Miguel Cedeno have prototypical measurables and raw athleticism that provide them sky-high ceilings as they develop. Across the board, this class has the potential to be special.

Recruiting director Alex Brown hosted a Twitter Spaces session on Wednesday, giving Bloomgren and the coaching staff the opportunity to parade their remarkable new additions in front of a national audience. People outside the Owls’ program were buzzing about what was happening at South Main. Respect national writers like Sam Khan Jr. of The Athletic voiced their approval.

So yeah, Bloomgren has probably earned the right to talk about those numbers. On the recruiting front, Rice is hitting home runs. All that’s left is to turn those into offensive touchdowns and defensive stops on Saturdays. From a process perspective, everything is on the right track.

Fittingly, Bloomgren alluded to the in-progress nature of this recruiting class and this program in his Wednesday remarks. “Not all sports are filled,” he said. “We’re not done getting better. But what a great day today is.” By any measure, that sure seems to be the case.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Transfer WR Sam Crawford commits to Owls

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren has announced former Tulsa wide receiver Sam Crawford will join the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The 2022 Rice Football recruiting classes added one new, big name as they wrapped up their flurry of Early Signing Period announcements on Wednesday morning. During a live Twitter Spaces session hosted by recruiting director Alex Brown, head coach Mike Bloomgren announced Sam Crawford would be transferring from Tulsa to Rice football.

Crawford is a former three-star signee who racked up 1,623 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns over the past three seasons with the Golden Hurricane. He’s one of three additions to South Main from the Transfer Portal so far in the 2022 class joining JUCO running back Dean Connors and Washington kicker Tim Horn, who has yet to be officially introduced.

Brown described Crawford as someone who knew what he was looking for and went and got it. Crawford will transition from the MBA program at Tulsa to the MBA program at Rice and add a difference-making weapon to the Rice receiving arsenal which continues to grow.

Crawford has the potential to provide a Cedric Patterson-type impact to the Owls next season. Checking in at 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, he shared a similar level of athleticism and is a little bit more refined, having more playing experience under his belt than Patterson did when he arrived. Coincidentally, Patterson hosted Crawford on his official visit this past weekend.

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247 Sports assigned Crawford a .8718 rating. That’s a higher rating than any high school signee Rice has added in program history and appears to be the second-highest rated addition under the current staff, trailing only transfer quarterback Luke McCaffrey.

Adding Crawford to a receiving corps that features Bradley Rozner, Jake Bailey and Cedric Patterson is going to make for an explosive, exciting offense for Rice football in 2022.

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Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 14 Stats Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2021 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 14.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) Week 14 Result Week 15
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) vs New York Giants W, 37-21 vs Kansas City (Thr)
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)		 vs Detroit W, 38-10 vs Cincinnati
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) at Minnesota (Thr) L, 36-28 vs Tennessee
Detroit Jack Fox (P) at Denver L, 38-10 vs Arizona
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) vs Buffalo W, 33-27 (OT) vs New Orleans (SNF)
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) — BYE —  —  vs New England (Sat)

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson was placed on injured reserve following a leg injury suffered in the Broncos’ Week 13 loss to the Chiefs. He’ll be required to miss at least three games

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett did not see action against the Bills, but was active again for the second-straight week.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan was activated from IR on Saturday after a six-week stint following a knee injury suffered in Week 8. He did not play against the Lions.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington picked up two tackles in Week 14  against the New York Giants.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo and the Colts were on bye in Week 14, the final week of byes among NFL teams this season. He’ll be back in action next week against the Patriots on Saturday.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only used twice on Sunday but delivered when his number was called. He booted a 52-yard punt and a 54-yard punt in his lone pair of punts.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell missed his lone field goal attempt on Thursday Night Football against the Vikings, converting on a pair of extra points. Bowell’s miss came from 49-yards out.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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