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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.
“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
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 and nine play on the offensive side of the ball.
“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
Scott Abell had been on campus for a matter of days when his first signing day arrived and while he honored every commitment in the prior class, the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class was the first group the bore his fingerprints.
“This year being kind of a full year officially now with our staff here, recruiting for schematically who we are offensively, defensively, special teams, I think is incredibly impactful,” Abell said, introducing 18 new signees to the program on Wednesday.
The class is headlined by Marcus Page, an offensive lineman from Forney, TX who flipped from Baylor this week, picking Rice over the Big XII program because of the program’s stability. But it wasn’t just Page. The 2026 class includes eight lineman, including a pair of impactful rush ends and two more on the offensive side of the ball alongside Page. That focus on big bodies was no mistake.
“Every week I’m asked, what are our keys to the game? We gotta win the line of scrimmage. It all starts there,” Abell said. “When you look at that, I think continuing to build our depth, that was really important.”
The class also includes hand-pick skill talent and a dual-threat quarterback. Following a season in which Abell and his staff did their best to assimilate the existing roster into their own schematic ideals, the staff now has 18 new players with skillsets they believe are tailored to what this staff wants to do.
The job isn’t done just yet. The Owls will continue to look at high school options for the February window and explore collegiate transfer options when that window opens in January. As things currently stand, the class is the highest-rated in program history. And Abell and company are just getting started.
Adding playmakers on offense was a focal point of the 2026 Rice Football Recruiting class, particularly those the staff could hand-pick for specialized roles in their unique offense. With that goal in mind, Rice entered the week of Early Signing Period and kept adding to their roster. Slot Fisher Leftwich has committed to the Owls.
Before committing to Rice, Leftwich had offers from some Ivy League programs, Air Force and even head coach Scott Abell’s former program, Davidson. Ultimately, the North Carolina native made the decision to come to Texas and play the slot position for the Owls.
Fisher joins fellow slot commit Jai Jacobs-Ford and a growing list of skill position players already on board, like wide receiver Preston Jackson and running back Dionne Simms. That trio, as well as tight end Colten Cole, should offer quarterback commit Ayden Wilhelm plenty of support.
Fisher’s highlight reel is exciting. The dynamic athlete can line of all over the field and plays with a burst that moves him through defenders in the blink of an eye. Adding someone with his diverse skillset to the offense is just what Rice needs, making him a key addition to the 2026 class.