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Rice Football Recruiting: Transfer WR Sam Crawford commits to Owls

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren has announced former Tulsa wide receiver Sam Crawford will join the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The 2022 Rice Football recruiting classes added one new, big name as they wrapped up their flurry of Early Signing Period announcements on Wednesday morning. During a live Twitter Spaces session hosted by recruiting director Alex Brown, head coach Mike Bloomgren announced Sam Crawford would be transferring from Tulsa to Rice football.

Crawford is a former three-star signee who racked up 1,623 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns over the past three seasons with the Golden Hurricane. He’s one of three additions to South Main from the Transfer Portal so far in the 2022 class joining JUCO running back Dean Connors and Washington kicker Tim Horn, who has yet to be officially introduced.

Brown described Crawford as someone who knew what he was looking for and went and got it. Crawford will transition from the MBA program at Tulsa to the MBA program at Rice and add a difference-making weapon to the Rice receiving arsenal which continues to grow.

Crawford has the potential to provide a Cedric Patterson-type impact to the Owls next season. Checking in at 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, he shared a similar level of athleticism and is a little bit more refined, having more playing experience under his belt than Patterson did when he arrived. Coincidentally, Patterson hosted Crawford on his official visit this past weekend.

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247 Sports assigned Crawford a .8718 rating. That’s a higher rating than any high school signee Rice has added in program history and appears to be the second-highest rated addition under the current staff, trailing only transfer quarterback Luke McCaffrey.

Adding Crawford to a receiving corps that features Bradley Rozner, Jake Bailey and Cedric Patterson is going to make for an explosive, exciting offense for Rice football in 2022.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 Early Signing Period Live Blog

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The majority of the 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class will become signees during the Early Signing Period. Follow all the action here.

Amidst all the highs and lows that have transpired at South Main in recent years, the past several Rice Football Recruiting classes have been among the more encouraging moments. Rice has signed three of its five highest-rated recruiting classes under head coach Mike Bloomgren and the 2022 class looks to be flush with talent as well.

This live tracker will follow all the latest news and updates through the day, with some notes along the way on the class as it is finalized. If you’re not a subscriber yet, here’s your chance.

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Which newcomers will make sizable impacts like Cedric Patterson, Jake Constantine and others did this year? This class has plenty of talent which could find its way to the field soon.

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

Updates

10:45 p.m.

For any night Owls, here’s an early preview of the latest edition of The Roost Podcast where we break down the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The Roost Podcast | Ep 104 – 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class review

1:37 p.m.

Mike Bloomgren wasn’t afraid to talk numbers when introducing the Owls’ third consecutive Top 5 class in program history.

2022 Rice Football Recruiting class nets Owls another historic haul

12:40 p.m.

Rice officially announces the addition of former Washington kicker Tim Horn.

9:31 a.m.

Mike Bloomgren announces live on Twitter Spaces that Tulsa WR Sam Crawford will transfer to Rice. Big pickup for the Owls. Here’s more on Crawford:

Rice Football Recruiting: Transfer WR Sam Crawford commits to Owls

And here’s wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw on Crawford.

9:16 a.m.

The first official additional from the Transfer Portal today is JUCO running back Dean Connors. He’s in. | #WhyRice

9:10 a.m.

As we listen in to the recruiting talk, consider taking a moment to fill out a quick postseason survey. Tell us how we did this fall and enter for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.

9:00 a.m.

Rice recruiting direct Alex Brown and head coach Mike Bloomgren are hosting a Twitter Spaces session to introduce the 2022 class. Give it a listen.

8:59 a.m.

Another one! Safety Tyson Flowers is in. He’s the eighth signature today.

8:41 a.m.

Things are starting to quiet down. Still possible we get another signing or two, but at this point, the Owls have the majority of their guys locked in. Head coach Mike Bloomgren has a press conference scheduled for noon today. We’ll have more comments from that as well as several follow-up pieces on this class in the afternoon and the next few days.

Make sure you keep an eye (or rather, an ear) out for the next edition of The Roost Podcast, as well.

8:01 a.m.

Athlete Quinton Jackson is in. Very versatile playmaker that Rice fans will enjoy seeing on the field. | #WhyRice?

Here’s running backs coach Robbie Picazo on Jackson.

7:55 a.m.

Quarterback AJ Padgett is in. No drama on the signal-caller front, Padgett committed in June and seals the deal today. | #WhyRice?

Here’s offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo on Padgett.

7:52 a.m.

That’s five NLIs in so far. That puts the Owls about halfway through their high school commitments. Keep an eye out for a player or two from the Transfer Portal. They’re not subject to the same timing restrictions as incoming high school players, so whether or not the Owls can officially introduce any new additions is TBD.

7:46 a.m.

Onto the skill players! Wide receiver Braylen Walker is in. | #WhyRice?

Here’s wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw on Walker.

7:38 a.m.

There’s something very on-brand with this. Rice gets the morning stater with three linemen. Defensive end Chibby Nwajuaku is in. | #WhyRice?

Here’s defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun on Nwajuaku.

7:27 a.m.

Defensive lineman Davion Carter commits to the Owls in April, the first commitment of this class. Now he’s officially a Rice Owl.

Here’s defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun on Carter.

7:16 a.m.

The other commit from the Eastern Time Zone, wideout Rawson MacNeill is in. | #WhyRice?

Here’s wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw on MacNeill.

6:58 a.m.

The first National Letter of Intent is in! Florida offensive lineman Miguel Cedeno is officially a Rice Owl. 6-foot-7, 320-pounds. This is a big get, literally.

Rice is rolling out a nice package on social media for these guys, too. Here’s Cedeno’s #WhyRice? and more on him from offensive line coach Sanders Davis.

Wednesday, 6:08 a.m.

We should see announcements start rolling in at any point now. The first group to keep an eye on is the East coast commits.

Tuesday night

The first new addition to the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class checked in before the Early Signing Period officially opened. Washington kicker Tim Horn announced he was transferring to Rice on Tuesday night. He fills an immediate need for the Owls moving forward.

Tuesday afternoon

The initial group of December signees for the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class may end up slightly smaller than in previous years. That’s due in part to some of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 waivers and their impact on future rosters as well as a strategic decision by the Rice coaching staff to save a few spots down the road for a Transfer Portal that seems to constantly be churning out new names on the hour.

As is typically the case, there were several Rice signees would had yet to receive a 247 Sports rating. Those last couple of rankings were added by Tuesday morning. Here’s where the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class stands as of Tuesday night. Players are eligible to fax in their signatures starting at 7:00 a.m. local time.

Rice has the No. 3 class entering Wednesday morning, but you’ll notice they only have nine commitments, the fewest of the top three rated teams. They’re in a good position so far and aren’t accounting for quantity over quality.

Make sure to stay tuned on Twitter and follow our live blog here during the day for updates. Get the latest list of the 2022 Rice Football Recruiting commits by clicking the tracker below.

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

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Rice Football Recruiting: Owls land kicker Tim Horn from Transfer Portal

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Former Washington kicker Tim Horn has committed to the Owls. He fills a major area of need for the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The 2022 Rice football recruiting class had checked a lot of boxes entering the final weeks leading up to the Early Signing Period. The Owls had their quarterback, some trench bullies on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and several skill players. What they lacked entering mid-December, was a kicker.

Finding a kicker had understandably skyrocketed on the priority list as the fall progressed. The Owls had thought they’d had a multi-year solution set in stone, but reality hit hard. Rice made two field goals longer than 30 yards this season.

Not having tremendous range is one thing, but being bound to nothing more than chip shots is problematic. It simply won’t work if you want to consistently win college football games.

That’s when the Owls’ need connected with the right perspective solution. Coaching staffs were shaken up across the country as the regular season drew to an end and the Transfer Portal began to overflow with options. One of those potential fits was former Washington kicker Tim Horn, who announced his commitment to Rice on the eve of the Early Signing Period.

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Horn was the No. 6 ranked kicker in the 2019 class, per 247 Sports. He didn’t kick at Washington, sitting behind veteran kicker Peyton Henry for three seasons who made 52-of-66 career field goals for the Huskies. Henry was a fringe all-conference player during his time with Washington, making the All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2019. He was reliable. And that kept Horn off field goal duty.

Even though he wasn’t starting, Horn did find ways to contribute while at Washington. He handled kickoffs all three years he was in Seattle and attempted (and made three extra points).

Horn plans to enroll in January. That will give him the chance to work with the team throughout spring practices.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Latest notes headed into 2021 Early Signing Period

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The Early Signing Period opens this week. Here’s where the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class stands before pens officially meet paper.

Commits will soon become signees this week as the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class begins to solidify. This update will have more on how many players Rice expects to sign and a few names to watch on the Transfer Portal front.

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

Subscribers will also have a live blog on Wednesday, as well as breakdowns of every position group. We’ll have reactions to any potential new names and commentary about the class as it continues to take shape. Once we’re through with the initial fireworks you’ll want to stay tuned for another episode of The Roost Podcast wrapping up the class, too. It’s going to be a busy week.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2022 ATH Quinton Jackson commits to Owls

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Another explosive playmaker is headed to South Main. Athlete Quinton Jackson is the newest member of the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The Rice football recruiting staff hasn’t slowed down. As the regular season was winding down for the Owls, they’ve been hard at work identifying talent, issuing offers and landing commitments. Now, a little more than a month removed from a pair of pledges on the offensive side of the ball Rice has landed a commitment from versatile athlete Quinton Jackson.

First and foremost, Jackson is a dynamic athlete. He played quarterback in high school and is listed as a wide receiver by some recruiting services. His skills with his feet make running back a viable possibility at the next level, too. Current Rice tailback Khalan Griffin made a similar transition from dual-threat QB to ball carrier.

Jackson was initially offered in September. At that time, Rice was competing with offers from the likes of Marshall, Army, Navy and a few others. The Owls ended up winning the battle, giving them another potential difference-maker on offense, wherever he lines up.

He’ll join wide receivers Braylen Walker and Rawson McNeill with JUCO runningback Dean Connors rounding out the current crop of skill position talents. The 2022 Rice Football recruiting class now has 10 commitments as the Early Signing Period approaches in mid-December.

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It’s not hard to get excited about Jackson and what he could bring to the Rice offense. His highlight reel is jam-packed with big-time plays — just watch him weave through defenders on the first touchdown run on this clip. He might only be 5’9″, but he’s got more thane enough wiggle to make opposing defenders loose their balance at all three levels.

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