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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2026 Signees – Defense, Special Teams

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The 2026 Rice Football Recruiting class includes several hand-picked impact players on defense and special teams. Here’s how those sides of the ball stacks up.

The 2026 Rice football recruiting class began with 18 signees during the Early Signing Period, the second recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. Of those players, 16 are current high school seniors, eight play on the offensive side of the ball, plus one specialist.

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“I think we have found some great future Owls who are going to have an impact on our program,” Abell said during his introductory remarks regarding the group.

We’ve gone position by position breaking down each of those new people, dissecting how these Owls will help the program on the field.

* Denotes players who will enroll early in January

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** This piece has been updated to reflect new signees as of 2/5/2025 **
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Rice Football Recruiting: JUCO SAF Dylan Stephens commits to Owls

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The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class picked up some much-needed reinforcements in the secondary. JUCO safety Dylan Stephens has committed to the Owls.

Adding depth to the defensive backfield was a must for the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class. Entering the late fall with some attrition at those positions, the Owls swooped into the JUCO ranks to get another potential playmaker. Safety Dylan Stephens has committed to the Owls.

Stephens had offers from Army, Navy, Yale and a handful of local FCS programs coming out of high school before going the junior college route. After one season at Trinity Valley Junior College, he resurfaced and took aim at a D1 opportunity. Rice proved to be the perfect fit.

He joins fellow defensive back Jordan Mitchell as the anchors in the secondary for the 2026 class so far. He’s also the second JUCO commit in the group, with fellow JUCO product Brock Reddic offering support in the defensive trenches.

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Most of the tape from on Stephens comes from his high school days at Berkner High School in Richardson, TX, just a season removed from where he is today. He’s lanky with a quick twitch and has the ability to run. Those are good traits to bet on for a defensive back that will arrive on campus with some collegiate snaps already under his belt.

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