The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football: 5 Observations on Owls’ Spring Roster

By

The 2021 Rice Football spring roster has been released. From thoughts on newcomers to departing names, here are five initial observations.

There has been a lot of movement on the coaching staff, but that hasn’t been the only interesting development for the Owls in the past few days. The 2021 Rice Football spring roster was posted over the weekend. You can find the full list here, but we’ve gone a step further and broken down some things that stood out from the initial list.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

We’ll start with the most important note, with more observations to follow. We’ll also have all the latest updates on spring practice when it gets underway in March. From position battles to early depth chart projections, you won’t want to miss it. If you’re not a subscriber, now is a great time to jump on board.

Become a Patron!

1. No Mike Collins

This shouldn’t come as a shock to those who have been following along this winter, but quarterback Mike Collins was not listed on the initial spring roster. We’ve still not had any clarification from head coach Mike Bloomgren as to what transpired last fall — hopefully, we get some answers when practices begin — but for now, it looks like Rice will be starting over at the quarterback position once again.

Collins was only expected to be a one-year solution when he was signed. He would have been out of eligibility entering 2021 had it not been for COVID-19 and revised eligibility standards.

As was the case last fall, the Owls will enter spring practice with their future quarterback on the roster. JoVoni Johnson and incoming grad transfer Jake Constantine will be the presumptive favorites to win the job for the upcoming season. It should be an interesting battle to watch this spring.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: Superlatives for the 2021 Signees

By

The 2021 Rice Football class made is flush with talent. Here are our picks for just a handful of standouts from the incoming class.

National Signing Day is in the books. With the possible exception of a key transfer addition (or two) in the months ahead, this will be the group of new players added to the Owls’ roster for the upcoming season. The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has hometowns that span from California to New Jersey. Now they’re all headed to South Main.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

The 20 new signees were hand-selected by the Rice football recruiting staff, and each comes with some sort of notoriety in their own way. If you haven’t yet, check out our breakdowns of the defensive signees and the offensive signees. Now, here’s our run down of class superlatives. Who is going to start out of the gate? Which player represented the biggest recruiting win for the Owls? Best athlete? Here are our picks.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking down the 2021 signees – Defense

By

The 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class has stocked with defensive talent at all three levels from a rangy secondary to powerful additions in the front seven.

Rice signed 18 players on the first day of the Early Signing Period. Of their new additions, 16 are current high school seniors. 11 of them play on the defensive side of the ball, the focal point of this update. Subscribers can check out this position by position breakdown of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Defensive Line (4) – Cal Varner, Jalen Hargrove, Elroyal Morris, Blake Boenisch
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO LB Desmyn Baker commits to Owls

By

The 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class keeps getting bigger, this time adding linebacker Desmyn Baker from the JUCO ranks.

The first day of the Early Signing Period is going to end with a bang as the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class continues to pick up steam. The Owls have added a transfer to their ranks. Junior college linebacker Desmyn Baker has committed to the Owls.

Over the past few months, Baker has garnered offers from Deion Sanders at Jackson State, Central Arkansas and now Rice. He moved quickly once the offer came in from the Owls, a trend exhibited from several of the most recent commitments.

Baker should cap off an impressive corps of linebackers in this class. The Owls already have commitments from Kenny Seymour, Aidan Siano and DJ Arkansas, all of which came back in March. The addition of Baker at a well-stocked position points to how highly the staff valued his abilities.

The JUCO connection is worth noting as well. Blaze Alldredge set a ridiculously high standard for junior college recruits at Rice. But the Owls have also hit on fellow JUCO players like Naeem Smith and Brad Rozner. The potential to build on a player who already has experience playing college ball is significant, and one the Owls’ will certainly be able to take advantage of with Baker.

Premium: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Baker is a fun one to watch on film. He’s aggressive from the snap and his pursuit is relentless. He can truly move from sideline to sideline and covers a lot of ground along the way. He’s going to find the ball carrier, and when he does, he’s going to arrive with a wallop. Consistent tackling ability is a must-have trait to see the field for this defense and he doesn’t stop until he has the ballcarrier on the ground.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: 2021 Early Signing Period Live Blog

By

The majority of the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class will become signees during the early signing period. Follow all the action here.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of all college football programs and Rice is not different. The Owls have brought in a tremendous amount of talent under Mike Bloomgren so far and this week will continue that trend. This live tracker will follow all the latest news and updates through the week, with some notes along the way on the class as it is finalized. If you’re not a subscriber yet, here’s your chance.

Become a Patron!

Which newcomers will make sizable impacts like Khalan Griffin, Gabe Taylor and others did this year? This class has plenty of talent which could find its way to the field soon.

Now, let’s dig into the latest from the Early Signing Period, below.

Updates

3:43 p.m.

Closing thoughts: Rice adds for the present and future with talented 2021 class

Rice Football Recruiting: Owls move from “needs” to “wants” with 2021 class

12:17 p.m.

Wide receiver MJ Singleton is the only scholarship commit not to sign today. He told me earlier in the week he’d be signing in February. That appears to still be the case, but we’ll follow up on him soon. With that, Rice has announced the remainder of their 2021 class.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren will meet with the media at 1:00 p.m. today, then we’ll have some further remarks to share with everyone.

9:53 a.m.

And one from the West Coast. Offensive lineman Faaeanuu Pepe has sent in his letter of intent.

7:42 a.m.

Two more in the trenches. Offensive lineman John Long and defensive lineman Elroyal Morris have signed.

7:39 a.m.

The entire linebacking corps is now in. Kenny Seymour has signed with Rice.

7:37 a.m.

Defensive lineman Blake Boenisch makes it six signees from Texas thus far.

7:29 a.m.

Another Katy product has inked with the Owls, defensive end Cal Varner is in. Right after him, tight end Jaggar Hebeisen‘s signature comes in, as well as another Alabama product, wide receiver Jayden Folmar.

7:26 a.m.

Another from Alabama, this time its wide receiver Peyton Stevenson.

7:18 a.m.

Just picked up a wave of Texas signees: linebackers Aidan Siano and DJ Arkansas as well as offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa are all in.

7:07 a.m.

Make that two from the Yellowhammer state. Fellow safety Marcus Williams has also signed.

7:05 a.m.

The first of a sizable Alabama contingent is on board. Safety Joshua Williams has signed.

6:40 a.m.

A quick reminder, recruits can sign at 7:00 a.m. local time, so the bulk of the Texas and Alabama commits should start getting finalized in the next hour or so.

6:25 a.m.

Defensive lineman Jalen Hargrove is in. That should wrap up the early morning east coast contingent.

6:14 a.m.

That’s two, and this one is a big one. Rice has its quarterback in the boat. Shawqi Itraish has signed.

6:08 a.m.

The first signature is in! Corner  Jonathan “Jojo” Jean is officially an Owl.

5:47 a.m.

Good morning folks. We’ll be posting updates here throughout the morning as players sign as well as updated the recruiting tracker. Should be a good day.

Tuesday night

The majority of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class is in the boat prior to the beginning of the Early Signing Period. In most typical years, we’d have a firmer timetable of who is putting pen to paper when, but COVID-19 has impacted some of the traditional ceremonies. Players are eligible to fax in their signatures starting at 7:00 a.m. local time.

Rice has the No. 4 class entering Wednesday morning. From a rating perspective, the Owls are on track to surpass last seasons’ average rating, the highest ever from a Rice recruiting class.

Make sure to stay tuned on Twitter and follow our live blog here during the day for updates. Get the latest list of the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting commits by clicking the tracker below.

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts