The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football: 8 Freshmen making noise at fall camp

By

Several veteran players are drawing rave reviews at Rice Football fall camp, but here are a few freshmen who have thrust their names into the mix.

The Owls were already a young football team before the 2019 Rice Football recruiting class arrived on campus. A week into fall camp, those new additions are turning heads. Zane Knipe is already working with the first team, but there are several other freshmen making significant noise.

Defensive line

De’Braylon Carroll is the real deal. There hasn’t been a practice that’s gone by without him turning heads. The defensive MVP of the 8-6A District of high school football, this Duncanville star has proven himself to be the real deal. It’s going to be tough for any freshmen to earn starting jobs before nonconference play through. Carroll might just be the exceptions

Rice Football Season Preview
Buy Now | 2019 Rice Preview

If Carroll wasn’t dominating to the degree he was, his partner in the trenches, Izeya Floyd, would be garnering all the accolades. He’s been a welcomed physical presence on the inside. It’s evident he and Carroll are going to be regulars in the rotation this season.

Secondary

The safety spots are spoken for. George Nyakwol won’t leave the field much this season. The winner of a close battle between Prudy Calderon and Naeem Smith will give Rice another strong option in the defensive backfield.

Corner is a different story. Andrew Bird has been rock steady on one side, but the rest of the depth chart has been up and down. Freshman Treshone Devones, Josh Landrum and Kirk Lockhart have all impressed early. Winning a starting role before midseason would be a stretch, but each of those three will be in the mix for playing time.

Offensive line and tight end

Rice is relatively deep along the o-line and at tight end, but that hasn’t stopped some younger players from flashing. Regan Riddle has done well for himself. He faces an extremely crowded depth chart along the interior of the line but could see some playing time as the “ogre” sixth man. He’ll be a chief contender to start in 2020.

Likewise, Jack Bradley is entering the conversation at tight end. He’s drawing buzz as one of the more well-rounded players the Owls have at that position. He’s another name to keep an eye on.

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Toughness up front a focal point of Owls’ weekend (8/3)

By

The top position battles are beginning to surface as Rice football marches onward. Here’s where we stand with three days of fall camp in the books.

Several interesting position battles on the offensive line

The Owls’ revamped offensive line will receive plenty of attention throughout fall camp as a trio of grad transfers vie for starting jobs. One of those new additions, Nick Leverett, seems to have solidified his spot. Leverett was with the team during spring practices and has taken advantage of the extra time in the system. He’s going to claim one of the two starting guard spots, most likely on the left side, where he’s lined up so far during camp.

The other two grad transfers, Brian Chaffin and Justin Gooseberry, have less certain futures.

Rice Football Season Preview
Buy Now | 2019 Rice Preview

Shea Baker looks to have the starting center job locked down, at least for now, and Cole Garcia has been taking the majority of the reps with the first team at the right guard spot. Chaffin is an interior guy with experience coming off the bench at Stanford. It’s possible he’ll serve as a “sixth man” for the Owls’ offensive line, spelling starters on drives throughout games.

Another plug — if you haven’t downloaded a copy of the 2019 Rice Football Preview yet, there’s five pages and 2,000+ words on the offensive line.  

Gooseberry is listed as the co-starter with Uzoma Osuji at right tackle on the pre-camp depth chart. The battle between those two has been intense and could go down to the wire. Osuji raised his level of play last year, beating out Florida grad transfer Andrew Mike. Gooseberry looks to be a more formidable challenger.

Wide receiver remains up in the air

There are a lot of reps available at wide receiver. As mentioned in the first camp update, August Pitre III has taken up the majority of the reps with the first team. A new wrinkle, though, has been freshman Zane Knipe forcing his way into the mix. He’s got sticky hands and moves well in the field. He’s a step ahead of some of the returning veterans and he’s just beginning to learn the ins and the outs of the offense.

Rounding out the rest of the starters, Austin Trammell looks as reliable as ever. Bradley Rozner has been steady, but hasn’t yet shown the ability to fully utilize his size downfield. He’s tall, but he’s lankier than Aaron Cephus. He’s going to have to get more physical to meet the demands of the Owls’ offense, which lacks any semblance of size apart from him.

Toughness will be the bedrock of this team

The Oklahoma drill is a favorite at South Main. Energy has been high this week, but things seem to crank up an extra notch when pads start popping. Several veterans flashed during Saturday’s session; Blaze Alldredge, Tyrae Thornton, Justin Gooseberry, Anthony Ekpe, Shea Baker and Clay Servin stood out the most.

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Football: What we know about the Owls quarterback battle

By

Rice football is back on the practice field and, once again, the Owls are holding auditions for their starting quarterback job. Here’s the latest entering camp.

What do we know?

The Rice football staff kept things close to the vest when it came to selecting a starting quarterback last season. Vanderbilt transfer Shawn Stankavage wasn’t officially named the starter until after the season had begun and he’d led the team to their first victory. The players in the mix for the 2019 job are different, but the staff intends to approach things the same way.

Rice Football Season Preview
Buy Now | 2019 Rice Preview

Bloomgren refused to rule anyone out by name at the start of fall camp, saying “They all bring something to the table. It’ll be interesting to see how this thing unfolds. We’re going to give them really good chances to get reps with the first group.”

When pressed on who was going to get those chances, Bloomgren highlighted incumbent starter Wiley Green as well as Evan Marshman and incoming grad transfer Tom Stewart from Harvard. Those were the three who took reps with the first team out of the gate. That’s the pool the staff is looking for to start the season opener against Army. Sort of.

Who is Jovoni Johnson?

Johnson was the only quarterback Rice signed in the 2019 class. He’s got a long way to go to learn the offense, but he’s done everything he can since arriving on campus. Quarterbacks coach Robbie Picazo called him “a special, special human being and a great leader that guys really gravitate to.” Bloomgren said he was “seemingly special” and a phenomenal athlete with “a howitzer for an arm.”

That leads to excitement. From what I’m hearing, no member of the incoming class has been more impressive since arriving on campus than Johnson. But, we’re just days into fall camp.

Read more about each of the Owls’ quarterbacks in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview

Green, who won the starting job at the end of last season, didn’t appear in a game until late October. His hindrance wasn’t ability — the staff always believed in that aspect of his game — but rater his ability to process and work through the offense.

“This is a complex offense for the quarterback,” Picazo said, “We put a lot on their plate which I think is outstanding, but it does mean there’s a learning curve.”

More than likely we’ll continue to hear a lot about Johnson as camp progresses. As of right now, though, I’d peg his chances of winning the starting job in August at 5 percent. That’s not because he’s not talented enough to do so, but because of that learning curve and the significant head start of the veterans competing with him. It’s a situation to monitor. Things could change by the time October arrives.

Who is Tom Stewart?

Stewart was the offensive MVP for Harvard last season, an offense which included a host of talented playmakers. Now he’s looking to follow in the footsteps of Shawn Stankavage and win the Rice job in his lone season on campus. He’s got work to do before he achieves that goal.

“I’m just trying to take that one day at a time,” he said after the first practice session. “Today was kind of humbling, getting back on the field.” Stewart broke his foot in the offseason. He doesn’t show any signs of wear now, but the long road back to recovery has been challenging.

He’s going to have his work cut out for him, but it’s too early to rule him out of the competition yet. The coaching staff is just now getting their first looks at him in person and evaluating what he could bring to the offense.

Stewart is confident, but at the end of the day, he wants to make the team better however he can. “I think we’re all naturally competitive guys. We’re all college quarterbacks. We all want to be the best we can be and having a high standard in that room makes everyone better,” he said. “I think all of us approach it the right way and we’re just really focused on making the team better.”

What happens next?

Bloomgren summed up the battle with his trademarked one-liner: “It’s going to be a meritocracy”. That comes as no surprise. I’d be surprised if we get a clear indicator from the coaching staff any time soon. Until then, we’ll keep you posted as this battle continues into camp.

If the Owls had to play a game tomorrow, this is how the depth chart would most likely look:

  1. Green
  2. Stewart
  3. Marshman
  4. Towns
  5. Johnson

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Early Takeaways from Day 1 of Fall Camp (8/1)

By

The first Rice football practice of fall camp is in the books. The Owls had plenty of energy as they flew around the field at Rice Stadium.

The first day of fall camp is in the books. It’s way too early to make any critical observations, but this is the time to offer some guiding thoughts as camp continues to progress. Bloomgren was the first to offer a definitive statement about his teams’ progress to this point. “Today, I got to see a much better product than I did on Day 1 last year in training camp. It’s what we expected, but it’s great to see it,” he said following the conclusion of the Owls’ first practice.

In addition to the overarching positivity, Bloomgren offered a few things he wanted the team to achieve. He set success as the point when the team is “handling their if/then functions” and is able “to make those processes happen even faster.” That’s going to take time, but we’ve got a long way to go before the team kicks off against Army at the end of August.

Rice Football Season Preview
Buy Now | 2019 Rice Preview

1. The freshmen look the part

The new additions to the program all seem to be the kind of “first off the bus” guys, the kind of players who seem to belong on the college field from the start. Guys like Jake Bailey, who battled through multiple vomiting incidents and stayed on the field, learning and cheering on his teammates. Like De’Braylon Carroll who looks like a tank plowing through the line. Like Jovoni Johnson who looked every bit as comfortable in the offense as the vets running drills alongside him.

Several freshmen flashed, making plays throughout practice. The depth chart is more firm entering this season than it was last year, but a few newcomers might force their way into playing time sooner than later. Many are a step ahead of where some of their predecessors were at this point last year — and that class was full of talented players, too.”

2. The wide receiving corps sans Aaron Cephus

There was no sign of Cephus at practice. When asked about Cephus’ status, Bloomgren was mum:

As mentioned in Episode 1 of The Roost Podcast and in our updated 2019 Rice Football Season Preview, August Pitre III was the first man up to fill the open spot on the first team. He, Austin Trammell and Brad Rozner took the majority of the reps with the starters. Behind them, Zane Knipe, Jake Bailey and Chris Boudreaux worked with the twos.

3. Plenty of experienced hands

This team is still going to be young, but there was a noticeable infusion of experienced talent that flashed on the field. Harvard transfers Tom Stewart (quarterback) and Charlie Booker (running back) and Stanford transfers Reagan Williams (fullback) and Brian Chaffin (offensive line) spent time working with the first team. So too did JUCO additions Nick Leverett (offensive line), Naeem Smith (safety) and Rozner (wide receiver).

When asked about his impressions of the first day, Chaffin was all smiles. “I thought it was a great day one,” he said, “It was good to be back on the field.”

Chaffin is one of two transfers who were recruited by Bloomgren at Stanford. His decision to follow his former coach to Houston and help him rebuild Rice seems to already be paying meaningful dividends. Chaffin called the opportunity “a huge honor” adding his endorsement of what the Owls are building. “I think this place is the same model as Stanford. You got great kids, hard working kids who want to do great things on the field and in the classroom. I think that model can happen here… It’s the same mold. We can definitely do big things here. It’s headed in the right direction.”

4. Way too early starters

An official depth chart hasn’t been released yet, but here’s how the first team looked like on both sides of the ball today:

Offense

QB| Green
RB | Otoviano/Booker
TE | Bull
FB | Williams
WR | Trammell, Rozner, Pitre
OL | Servin, Leverett, Baker, Garcia, Osuji

Defense

DL | Orji, Garcia, My. Adams, Schuman
LB | Alldredge, Montero
CB | Ellis, Bird
Saf | Nyakwol, Calderon, Chamberlain (Viper)

All practice updates will be available for all to see during fall camp. Once the regular season starts they’ll be reserved for members. Becoming a member is 100% FREE and takes 30 seconds. You can register here.

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

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Note from first day of spring practice

By

Rice football returned to practice for the first of several weeks of spring ball. Here are a few notes from the Owls’ first day back on the grass.

First off, it might not be purely football related, but Antonio Montero was wearing short sleeves and shorts in 40-degree weather. The Minnesota native was giving his more southern teammates a hard time.

1. Position changes, notes

  • Cam Montgomery is at running back.
  • Sam Glaesmann remains at wide receiver
  • Cameron Valentine moves to nose tackle
  • D’Angelo Ellis at corner, not listed on the offensive depth chart
  • Cole Garcia and Nick Leverett only players listed as starters with no backup on the two-deep

2. Offensive line and running backs

Juma Otoviano, Aston Walter and Cam Montgomery all had explosive plays during practice, bursting through big holes and accelerating downfield. That’s a credit to their speed, but also because of a more physical offensive line. JUCO transfer Nick Leverett is entrenched along the right side, most likely at right guard. Clay Servin looks like the real deal at left tackle.

Nashon Ellerbe missed most of last season with a nagging lower-body injury. He doesn’t appear to be 100 percent this spring. With Jawan King on his way, he’ll have to battle to get meaningful minutes.

3. All three JUCO transfers flash

In addition to Leverett, Naeem Smith and Bradley Rozner both made a few nice plays on their respective sides of the ball. Smith won the offseason conditioning program and has drawn rave reviews from several coaches all spring. Rozner made an impressive athletic catch down the sideline and seems to be slotting in well on the outside.

4. Quarterback remains a wait and see

Wiley Green will enter spring as the QB1 with Evan Marshman his primary competition. We really won’t know for sure if Green has secured the starting job before grad transfer Tom Stewart and freshman Jovoni Johnson get to campus later this summer. Still, Green threw some nice balls and made a few plays with his legs on Monday.

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

Recent Posts