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NFL Draft: WR Luke McCaffrey selected No. 100 Overall by Commanders

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Former Rice football wide receiver Luke McCaffrey was selected No. 100 overall by the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL Draft.

A steady riser throughout the pre-draft process, Luke McCaffrey didn’t have to wait long to learn his pro destination. The former Rice football wide receiver was selected with the final pick of the third round, going No. 100 overall to the Washington Commanders.

McCaffrey enters the NFL following a season in which he led the AAC in touchdown receptions (12), racking up 68 receptions and 963 receiving yards in the process.

He’ll follow in the footsteps of a family flush with NFL bloodlines. Luke’s brother, Christian, is a standout running back with the San Francisco 49ers. His father, Ed, was a third-round pick to the Denver Broncos who would go on to play 13 seasons in the league and win three Super Bowls.

In Washington, McCaffrey joins a robust Commanders’ roster which includes newly drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels from LSU. He’ll step into a receiver room that includes Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and others.

McCaffrey is the first Rice player to hear his name called in the NFL Draft since Christian Covington was selected by the Houston Texans in 2015 and the first top-100 selection for the Owls since Phillip Gains was drafted by the Chiefs in 2014. He’s the Rice wide receiver drafted since Jarett Dillard was selected by the Jaguars in the fifth round in 2009 and the first Rice player drafted by Washington since Tony Barker in the 10th round of the 1992 draft.

McCaffrey was named The Roost’s Offensive Player of the Year for Rice football in back-to-back seasons, his first two years playing wide receiver at the collegiate level following a transition from quarterback. If he can excel to that degree in such a short time, the sky might truly be the limit for him at the next level.

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Rice Football 2023 Offensive Player of the Year: Luke McCaffrey

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In only his second year at the position, wide receiver Luke McCaffrey was a gamebreaker for this team and a surefire pick for our 2023 Rice Football Offensive Player of the Year.

For as much as he may have been able to rely on his innate athleticism and find instant success, Rice football wide receiver Luke McCaffrey would never be content with a singular standout season.

After transitioning from quarterback to pass catcher before the 2022 season, McCaffrey was learning on the fly as he posted a team-leading 58-reception season with a team-best 903 all-purpose yards all while missing the last few games of the regular season. McCaffrey’s beginnings as a wide receiver set the stage for a stellar senior season.

“Every rep is gold, from an experience standpoint. Being able to go through a whole season, being able to go through a spring ball, fall camp and another spring ball and this year, capping it off with another great month of training is so helpful,” McCaffrey said on the cusp of the 2023 campaign. “From a preparation standpoint, [I feel] better than I ever felt.”

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Following a quiet start in the Owls’ opening game against Texas, McCaffrey turned those positive offseason feelings into game-changing production. His helmetless touchdown grab against rival Houston in Week 2 earned him Pop-Tarts “Crazy Good” Play of the Week honors and helped propel the Owls past the Cougars for the first time since 2010.

“I don’t know that he has an easy catch,” head coach Mike Bloomgren would later joke. “He certainly doesn’t have an easy touchdown catch on the year. Every one’s contested, his helmet is coming off, someone’s poking him in the eye. It’s crazy.”

McCaffrey would build on those theatrics with a career-best 199-yard game against USF, mixing in seven yards on the ground to go above 200 total yards for the day. Week after week, McCaffrey continued to raise the bar.

The senior receiver would only continue to heat up from there. Beginning with a two-touchdown day against UConn, McCaffrey would register nine touchdowns in the final eigth games of the season. His second half score in the Owls’ regular season finale against FAU would put Rice ahead for good, clinching a sixth win and back-to-back bowl game appearances.

All that, in just his second year playing the position.

“There’s usually a drop off somewhere,” offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo said of McCaffrey’s ascendance. “But he was lights out really… He was locked in, focused. He kept pushing. That to me is what puts him in that upper echelon.”

Eight yards shy of a 1,000-yard season, McCaffrey has accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl and is off to the NFL. In just two years, he’s climbed into the top 10 in several all-time program-receiving ranks. With a touchdown in the SERVPRO First Responders bowl, he has clinched the third most touchdown receptions in program history.  He ranks ninth in yards and 10th in receptions.

More: Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year — Sean  Fresch

Three years ago, McCaffrey committed to Rice football with aspirations to play quarterback. He leaves South Main as one of the most productive wide receivers the school has ever seen. McCaffrey was a team captain and a leader, someone his teammates and the entire coaching staff leaned on in big moments. Time and time again, he delivered.

“We talk about Luke McCaffrey so much, and we don’t talk about him enough,” Bloomgren said upon the conclusion of McCaffrey’s final regular season game against FAU. “I think that couldn’t be more true. The impact that he has on our team and the player that he is. I feel so blessed to be able to work with him.”

** Photo credit: Mara Lysaker **
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Rice Football: 10 Takeaways from 2023 Season

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The 2023 Rice football season was unpredictable and one-of-a-kind. What can we take away from the Owls’ six-win campaign?

A SERVPRO First Responder’s Bowl appearance marks the end of an eventful 2023 Rice Football season, filled with extremely high highs and some questionable lows. Ultimately, this year will be remembered most for that second-straight bowl appearance, but we learned a lot about this team and this program throughout the season.

Make sure you check out The Roosties, our take on an annual Rice football awards show from The Roost Podcast. There will also be Team Superlatives released throughout the next few weeks featuring more traditional awards like Team MVP, Offense and Defensive Player of the Year and more.

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Here are a few final thoughts on the 2023 Rice football season, ordered with five initial positives from the year that was and five pressing questions for the future based on what we saw on the field this year.

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Rice Football 2023: Bowl Prep Practice Report 2

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Rice football plays in the first SERVPRO First Responders Bowl next week. Here’s what we learned from the Owls as they prepare for the game.

Another week of Rice football bowl practice is in the books. The Owls hit the road for Dallas on Friday where they’ll have a few more days of practice then celebrate Christmas before taking on Texas State next Tuesday.

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This week’s roundup focuses on a handful of potential bowl game risers and surprise impact players as well as some milestones to watch for when the game arrives and some additional notes.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

Potential bowl game risers

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Rice Football tops FAU, clinches bowl eligibility

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Rice Football is going bowling for the second year in a row following a Senior Day victory over FAU, led by former Owl Tom Herman.

FAU struck first, but Rice football weathered the storm and gutted out its sixth win of the season, securing a second-consecutive bowl trip for head coach Mike Bloomgren and the Owls. On the arm of backup quarterback AJ Padgett, a resilient defense and an unrelenting desire to finish, Rice made the plays when they mattered most and found a way to win. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

This team is tough

Everything about this week of preparation suggested that Rice football would be ready for this game, so it was quite a surprise when FAU’s first play from scrimmage was a 75-yard touchdown run, possibly aided by a hold on Rice corner Tre’shon Devones. To follow that up with a long drive on offense that resulted in zero points and a turnover on downs inside the 10 was crushing.

Both the offense and the defense had come up short on their opening sequence whilst FAU had made the big play, twice. Rice had a choice to make. Was it going to be “Here we go again?” or would it be a call to arms with a renewed focus? Fortunately, it was the latter.

The offense got things back in gear, marched down the field and scored. The defense, after allowing 75 yards on the first play of the game, allowed FAU just 47 yards in the rest of the half.

A redzone interception by quarterback AJ Padgett didn’t do the Owls any favors, but the young signal caller recovered by leading a scoring drive on the next possession to put Rice in front at halftime. After so much going wrong for Rice in the first half, to enter the locker room with a lead spoke volumes. This team wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

It was fitting, then, that after a clock-killing drive that came up short on a failed fourth down conversion attempt the Rice defense was thrust back onto the field to make one last stop. With the game (and the postseason) literally on the line, the Owls got the job done.

Growing up before our eyes

Padgett took almost every snap during practice over the past two weeks but played relatively poorly in his two starts entering Saturday. His struggles, combined with the four-game redshirt rule which left backup freshman quarterback Chase Jenkins with one more game to play this season, led the staff to split reps between the quarterbacks during practice this week.

Bloomgren was adamant Jenkins would play. Offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasopop0 said he’d been in the game early. Yet when the halftime whistle sounded, Jenkins hadn’t moved from his perch on the Rice sideline. Why? Padgett, although not perfect, was moving the offense up and down the field.

In the first half alone, Padgett completed 12-of-19 passes for 172 yards, one touchdown and one pick. The interception was an impressive leaping grab by an FAU defensive back that wasn’t nearly as inexcusable as turnovers Padgett had committed in previous games. Despite only one score to show from it early on, the Owls’ redshirt freshman quarterback was playing well.

Bloomgren believed he could have been even better, though. “Still not the best of AJ Padgett,” he said after the game. “He is such a much better quarterback than what we’ve been able to put on display in games.”

Given a resilient running game and some penalties committed by FAU — at long last, a break on the officiating front for Rice — Padgett wasn’t asked to do too much in the second half. He calmly guided the team down to what would be the game-winning touchdown drive, finding Boden Groen in the back of the endzone for the score.

He finished the game 24-of-37 for 255 yards and three touchdowns with 32 yards rushing, before sacks. He was great on Saturday. And Rice needed every bit of it to win this game.

We’re going to miss Luke McCaffrey

“We talk about Luke McCaffrey so much, and we don’t talk about him enough. I think that couldn’t be more true,” Bloomgren said. “The impact that he has on our team and the player that he is. I feel so blessed to be able to work with him.”

Expectations were sky-high when McCaffrey committed to Rice prior to the 2021 season. A dual-threat quarterback, he was electric with the ball in his hands so hopes remained high when quarterbacking didn’t pan out and he made the decision to switch positions to wide receiver. Still, few could have expected just how impactful his time as a Rice pass catcher would be.

Despite only playing the position for two years, McCaffrey will leave Rice football among the top 10 in several all-time receiving record lists, climbing those charts on Saturday against FAU.

In what is expected to be his final regular season collegiate game, McCaffrey hauled in 12 passes for 141 yards and one touchdown reception, also adding 31 yards on the ground. “Whether he was running the ball today or catching it, I thought he was exceptional,” Bloomgren lauded.

McCaffrey has now caught at least one touchdown in seven consecutive games and scored in 10 of the Owls’ 12 games this season. In one of the games he didn’t score, he went off for a career-best 206 all-purpose yards

“Like earn it, for real”

There wasn’t a soul in the Brian Patterson center that was going to pass over a trip to the Lending Tree Bowl to play Southern Miss last season. Getting to the postseason, even with only five wins, was a meaningful step for the Rice football program a year ago. But at the same time, everyone knew they hadn’t quite delivered on those preseason expectations.

Offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo said it best this week when asked about how much a win on Senior Day to reach six regular season wins would mean to this team. Defeating FAU and clinching a bowl berth, in his words would be to “like earn it, for real.”

Saturday’s bowl-clinching win over FAU comes with no asterisks or what-ifs. It was a hard-fought, progress-proving victory, one that transpired without the Owls’ star quarterback JT Daniels.

“It makes me really proud of these kids, of these coaches,” Bloomgren said. “Because nobody has ever blinked. Everyone who’s still in this building has just kept fighting for what they believe in, for these kids… this team has always been worth fighting for for me, so it’s really cool.”

Rice concludes its 2023 regular season with six wins, the most for the program since 2014. The Owls were the only AAC team with a Power 5 victory, knocking out rival Houston to win the Bayou Bucket for the first time since 2010. Against a much more challenging schedule, Rice was better than they’ve been in a decade, “for real.

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Sneaky solid defense

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