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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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Owls raise the ceiling and the floor with 2019 recruiting class

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National Signing Day marked the completion of the 2019 Rice Football recruiting class. The new Owls will be met with both excitement and expectation.

Mike Bloomgren stood in front of a microphone on National Signing Day and couldn’t help but smile when he talked about the 2019 Rice football recruiting class. He has to smile. He has to give those cliched axioms. “We have addressed everything we wanted to,” he said. “We’re a year better everywhere.”

But for this team, and this recruiting class, Bloomgren’s words were much more than platitudes. That’s because the 2019 class marked a significant change. It marked the official tipping point between Year 0 and the heart of the Mike Bloomgren era.

The second-year head coach isn’t an excuse maker. He carries himself with a humble confidence, celebrating the good times and vowing to push his staff and his team through the bad. And now this team is his team.

“Two-thirds of the team are guys that we brought in,” Bloomgren acknowledged “[the 2018 and 2019 signing classes] knew the expectation when they walked in the door.” For a man who has preached Process in his first year at South Main, the rubber is beginning to meet the road.

It’s no secret Bloomgren inherited a blank slate. The roster and the direction of the Rice football program were handed to him by athletic director Joe Karlgaard when the first-time head coach was hired away from Stanford following the 2017 season. Bloomgren crafted a plan and set it in motion.

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A lot has transpired since. Rice opened their 2018 season against Prairie View. After winning that game in thrilling fashion, the Owls put up strong performances in the next two games against Houston and Hawaii, both losses. Both defeats highlighted some glaring issues with the roster Bloomgren inherited — it wasn’t fast enough, strong enough or deep enough, not by a longshot.

In the weeks that followed Rice would win just one more game. Injuries ravaged the quarterback room and finding consistent performers on the defensive side of the ball was a weekly challenge. Freshmen, several recruited by Bloomgren in his first signing class at Rice, became stars.

Prudy Calderon and Antonio Montero built names for themselves on defense. Wiley Green, Cole Garcia and Juma Otoviano paved the way for the Owls’ climactic send-off win over Old Dominion. Despite the two-win record, there were pieces. There just needed to be more of them.

Bloomgren cut to the chase. “We need to raise the ceiling of talent on both sides of the ball all across this program, but we’ve also got to raise the floor.” He said, “We’re doing that right now.” The turnover on the roster has been hard to miss. Rice started six upperclassmen against Old Dominion — two of those will return to the roster in 2019: safety George Nyakwol and defensive tackle Myles Adams.

I love that we actually have competition. The way it’s supposed to be in college football.Mike Bloomgren

With the youth movement comes both challenge and opportunity. The incoming class has proof the team is going to start whoever earns each spot on Saturday. They’ll be competing for jobs out of the gate, something that can and must push the incumbents to work harder. “I love that we actually have competition. The way it’s supposed to be in college football,” remarked Bloomgren.

Competition. Process. Results. The wheels set in motion more than a year ago will continue to turn as the newest Owls make their way to campus, some in the spring, others in the summer. No matter when they arrive, they’ll each be asked to push themselves and this program further and harder than ever before. For Bloomgren and his staff, the future is now.

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Breaking down 2019 National Signing Day signees

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Rice football added five scholarship players to their ranks on National Signing Day, rounding out the 2019 class with 31 signees. Here’s more on the new Owls.

It was a productive National Signing Day for Rice football. The Owls added five players to their 17 early signing period signees and nine walk ons, bringing their total to 31 members in this class. Rice has room for four more players which could include a few more graduate transfers by the time this team takes the field in the fall.

The new additions filled three major areas of need:

1. Quarterback

Jovoni Johnson, QB – Conway, AR
Tom Stewart, QB – Harvard (Grad Transfer)

Rice needed to shore up the quarterback room after missing on a signal caller during the early signing period. They added two players, each fulfilling a different purpose. Tom Stewart is the veteran hand who has played D1 football. He’ll have a shot at the starting job, but most importantly, he’ll serve as an insurance policy for Wiley Green and Evan Marshman — both quarterbacks were injured during the 2019 season.

Johnson is a different case. The big-bodied dual threat passer is built from a different mold than any other quarterback on the roster. While it’s unlikely he challenges for a starting role in 2019, he’s a developmental prospect for the future with sky-high potential.

2. Defensive front seven

Myron Morrison, LB – Atascocita, TX
De’Braylon Carroll, DT – Duncanville, TX

Adding a few more hard hitters in the defensive front seven was another goal for National Signing Day. The departures of Zach Abercrumbia and Roe Wilkins left depth concerns which needed to be filled up front. De’Braylon Carroll will slide into the mix and compete for playing time this fall. Behind him the Owls added Myron Morrison a hard-hitting linebacker from just outside Houston.

If Carroll was 6-foot-1 (he’s 5-foot-11) the Owls wouldn’t have been able to sign him. The knock on him is his height, which he more than makes up for with a quick first step and explosive instincts. He’s going to be scary teamed up with Izeya Floyd in the middle of the defensive line.

3. Instant impact transfers

Brian Chaffin, OL – Stanford (Grad Transfer)

The offensive line was a work in progress last season and only truly started to gel in the final weeks of 2018. If the offense wants to take a step forward, they need better protection in the passing game and better blocking for their backs. Rice is addressing that problem by signing two graduate transfers on the offensive line in the 2019 class.

Chaffin’s addition is more than just filling a hole, though. Bloomgren recruited him to Stanford and remains close with him and his family. “I know he knows what it takes and what I believe in,” Bloomgren remarked. “I know he wants to help me advance that culture. His one year will be felt beyond.”

While the younger guys continue to develop and get stronger, this battle-tested pair (including early signee Nick Leverett) have the ability to catapult this entire unit forward significantly. All of a sudden a unit which had several question marks with the departures of Joseph Dill and Sam Pierce could become one the team’s biggest strengths.

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Rice Football 2019 National Signing Day live tracker

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National Signing Day is here and the 2019 Rice football class is being finalized. Here are the latest news and updates as they come in.

More: Check out the latest list of 2019 Rice football commitments and signees

4:46 p.m. – Update

Progress is being made on multiple fronts concerning potential grad transfers. There isn’t likely to be another announcement today, but there are a few guys that are varying degrees of close to coming on board.

3:55 p.m. – Not done yet

Bloomgren confirmed during his press conference this afternoon the 2019 class is not yet complete. There are a handful of grad transfer targets still out there which the staff is working to finalize in addition to the ones who have signed thus far.

1:28 p.m. – Two more walk-ons

  • Linebacker Edmond Lahlouh
  • Offensive lineman Isaac Klarkowksi

1:05 p.m. – More walk-ons coming through

  • Punter Charlie Mendes
  • Offensive lineman Connor Hughes
  • Wide receiver Bennett Mecom
  • Offensive lineman Jerry Johnson

12:05 p.m. – Preferred walk-on update

There is some paperwork to sort out before Rice can formally announce preferred walk-ons. There will be a few introduced today and many more in the days to come. Here’s who’s in right now:

  • Running back Ayden Noriega
  • Offensive lineman Nick Wagman
  • Safety Chike Anigbogu

11:40 a.m. – Update

With the addition of Chaffin, the 2019 signing class is up to 21 players.

16 high school signees
2 JUCO players: Smith, Rozner
3 Grad transfers: Leverett, Stewart, Chaffin

That leaves Rice with four open spots for this class but National Signing Day isn’t over yet. There should be at least a few more commitments coming down the pipe, if not today, then in the coming weeks.

11:29 a.m. – Stanford transfer Brian Chaffin has committed to Rice.

11:06 a.m. – Tom Stewart is in.

10:06 a.m. – Update

All three of the expected high school additions have submitted their Letter of Intent. We’re stilling waiting on an official announcement on Harvard transfer Tom Stewart. Word on his addition should come around lunch time. He won’t be the only additional name added to this class by late afternoon.

9:31 a.m. – De’Braylon Carroll has sent in his Letter of Intent.

8:19 a.m. Update

Two signatures in so far from a pair of committed players. We’re still waiting on two more commits and should sign another few prospects who have not made a public announcement yet. More to come.

8:15 a.m. – Jovoni Johnson has sent in his Letter of Intent.

7:51 a.m. – Myron Morrison has sent in his Letter of Intent.

7:10 a.m.

Here we go. First signature could be coming in any time now. Hurry up and wait.

Wednesday – 5:30 a.m.

Letters of intent can be sent in starting at 8:00 a.m. local times. That means we could see things start rolling as early as 7:00 a.m. CT.

Tuesday

Rice has four players committed players expected to sign on National Signing Day. All four have solidified their commitments in the past month, leaving little concern among the staff that any sort of 11th-hour defection might occur this time around. If things go to plan, we’ll see signatures from quarterback Jovoni Johnson, quarterback Tom Stewart, linebacker Myron Morrison and defensive tackle De’Braylon Carroll.

On the eve of National Signing Day, we made predictions for which additional names could jump on board here.

As the 2019 class started to close, Rice sent out a flurry of offers for 2020. This was the first batch of offers Rice had extended to anyone out of the 2019 class. Notable names include Bishop Lynch safety Plae Wyatt and Tomball Memorial wideout Logan Kyle. Expect things to pick up on that front in short order.

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