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Rice Football Recruiting: Owls add pair of wide receivers to 2020 class

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class added a pair of talented wide receivers, picking up commitments from Michael Haack and Casey Tawa.

Entering the final weeks of the current cycle, there was room for a few additional pass catchers in the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. While some were still traveling to and from their holiday festivities, the Owls were making moves.

Andrew Mason was the only true wide receiver that signed in December, making that one of the positions the Owls were looking to deepen over the next several weeks. On Saturday Rice tripled their wide receiver depth with two new additions. Both players have the potential to be key contributors for Rice.

Michael Haack

Michael Haack came onto the radar earlier this summer after the Owls’ staff spotted him on the camp circuit. He followed that up with an impressive senior year, hauling in 14 touchdowns and shredding defense after defense. The El Paso native had a breakout senior season, finishing first-team all-district and was his all-star game MVP.

It’s worth noting Rice plucked Haack out of UTEP’s backyard. Rather than suiting up for a Conference USA opponent, he’ll don the blue and grey next season. That’s a win on top of a win for Rice.

Casey Tawa

Haack would have made for a nice Christmas present for this class on his own, but Rice doubled down on Saturday, adding out of state playmaker Casey Tawa. Tawa’s brother plays baseball at Stanford and the Oregon native has a tremendous interest in the Stanford-like dedication instilled by Mike Bloomgren and his coaching staff.

On the field, Tawa’s production speaks for itself. He led the state of Oregon with 18 touchdown receptions this season. His acceleration after the catch is superb.

 

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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives

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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives exist to honor exceptional Owls who made a difference on the field this season. Here’s the complete list.

There were many individual performances worth recognizing in the 2019 Rice Football season. In addition to the more traditional awards below, make sure to check out The Roosties, the first annual award show from The Roost Podcast, which features a different angle of honors. From our favorite plays to the players we were most wrong about in the preseason, we cover some of the more creative superlatives on the show.

Defensive Newcomer of the Year — DB Naeem Smith

Full Story: Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Smith and the secondary capped off their season with a near-perfect outing against preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Mason Fine on Senior Day. The North Texas quarterback was held without a touchdown pass, in a game in which he attempted at least 15 passes, for the first time since Sep. 16, 2017 at Iowa. Nobody keeps Fine out of the endzone, but Rice football did. And Smith was a crucial piece to that puzzle.”

Offensive Newcomer of the Year — WR Bradley Rozner

Full Story: Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “The season was a collection of moments like that for Rozner. He led all of junior college in touchdowns last season. In his first year at Rice, he led the Owls’ pass catchers in scoring, too. Not only did South Main become his home, he proved he belonged on this stage time and time again.”

Rising Star — DT De’Braylon Carroll

Full Story: Rising Star Award

Excerpt: “Carroll’s impact went beyond the boxscore. Those relying on the stat sheet to project how impactful the Rice front seven will be next season are in for a surprise. Carroll will be ready and waiting for his turn. Adams has exhausted his eligibility and moved on. Rice has yet to sign any interior defensive lineman in their most recent recruiting class. The starting job is going to be Carroll’s. If he continues to play at this level he won’t fly under the radar for much longer.”

Special Team’s Player of the Year — LB Garrett Grammer

Full Story: Special Team’s Player of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Humble excellence. That’s pretty much Garrett Grammer in a nutshell. And that’s why this season, despite the string of defeats, has been so rewarding for many on this team. His efforts are the backbone of a team in the progress of pulling itself up by the bootstraps, of a collection of players working their butts off to earn a win, somehow, someway.”

Defensive Player of the Year — DB Treshawn Chamberlain

Full Story: Defensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “Even with those impressive numbers, it’s hard to quantify the impact a player like Chamerblain had on this defense. The energy he brought to the defense this season went far beyond the x’s and o’s. Some players stay emotionally level from start to finish. Chamberlain is a guy that embraces the intensity of the game, playing with a passion, a swagger that gives him an edge.”

Offensive Player of the Year — RB Aston Walter

Full Story: Offensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “That career ended in El Paso, Texas on the very field he lost his junior season. This time, instead of accruing another redshirt, Walter went out with a bang. He paced Rice with 149 rushing yards and one touchdown which came from 30 yards out. Things had finally come full circle. A fitting way for a player who’s career had transformed from a part-time role to a core offensive weapon.”

Team MVP — LB Blaze Alldredge

Full Story: Team MVP Award

Excerpt: “Dominant. If one were to describe Blaze Alldredge’s 2019 season in one word, that would be it. This marked the year the JUCO kid from Florida proved he belonged on the big stage. And not just belonged, that he was the Alpha on the field, patrolling the hash marks and ready to take on any challenger who dared run his direction.”

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Rice Football 2019 Team MVP: Blaze Alldredge

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Blaze Alldredge was the enforcer who helped turn the defense into a dominant force and an easy selection for the 2019 Rice Football Team MVP

The path Blaze Alldredge took to Rice football stardom was anything but conventional. Alldredge played his high school ball in Florida before enrolling in a California junior college out of high school, betting that he could earn more prestigious offers down the line after another year of work. Despite registering 88 tackles and two interceptions in his freshman campaign, his choices were equally sparse.

As National Signing Day came and went, a return to junior college seemed imminent. Then Rice Football head coach Mike Bloomgren picked up the phone and invited Alldredge to come visit South Main. From that moment on, everything changed for Alldredge and for Rice.

Alldredge joined the Owls in mid-June without any fanfare. He instead he quietly inserted himself into classes and prepared for fall camp. Beginning the year as a backup, he worked his way into the rotation and was a starter by midseason. He’s not flying under the radar anymore. A late addition to Bloomgren’s first recruiting class, Alldredge has become the very ethos of the Rice football defense.

“I always knew the player I was. I was just waiting for my opportunity,” Alldredge said, reveling in the full circle his career had already taken. After registering 65 tackles in his inaugural D1 season, Alldredge became a certified rockstar on the field in 2019.

The sum total of his 12 performances was outstanding. The Owls’ starting linebacker notched 102 tackles, four sacks, a fumble, a fumble recovery and two passes defended. Of those 102 tackles, 21.5 came behind the line of scrimmage.

Alldredge’s 21.5 tackles for a loss were second-most in the nation, a half tackle more than presumptive No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Chase Young from Ohio State. He broke Larry Izzo’s school record for TFLs by a linebacker and finished a half tackle shy of Brian Womac’s school-record 22 TFLs in 2017. He spent as much time in the backfield as any Rice player did this season.

The nation took notice. By midseason Alldredge was retroactively added to the Nagurski Award watchlist, the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for defensive players. He was the only Rice player named to the All Conference-USA first team.

There’s not much more he could have done on the field this season, but it’s what he did outside the white lines that made all the difference.

Just in case his incredible athleticism wasn’t enough, Alldredge committed to outworking everyone. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith said Alldredge “transformed his body in the offseason,” floored by how seriously he took the workout regimen. He dropped his body fat percentage to personal bests and finished neck-and-neck with fellow linebacker Antonio Montero in the team’s offseason workout competitions.

“Fatigue isn’t something that we even process in this program,” Alldredge said following the defenses’ signature game-winning final series against North Texas. “I’m never tired going onto the field,” he said, “I’m ready when my number’s called. I think everyone on the defense kind of embraces that same mentality that we’re not going to shy away from the limelight. We’re not going to make excuses that we’re too tired. We want to be on the field because we want to show how dominant we are.”

Dominant. If one were to describe Blaze Alldredge’s 2019 season in one word, that would be it. This marked the year the JUCO kid from Florida proved he belonged on the big stage. And not just belonged, that he was the Alpha on the field, patrolling the hash marks and ready to take on any challenger who dared run his direction.

He’s not done. As soon as the whistle sounded on the team’s third-consecutive victory Alldredge began his preparations for an even better 2020. “A big part about me choosing to come to Rice was [strength and conditioning coach] Hans [Straub]. When I met with him and I talked to him I was so excited for the chance to have somebody guide me toward where I wanted to take my body,” he said, “And truthfully, he’s going to do it again. So we gotta watch out for this next offseason.”

A player that impressive, with that kind of drive and another offseason to get better? Conference USA didn’t have an answer for Alldredge in 2019. His trajectory, and the trajectory of Rice football, is sky high.

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Rice Football 2019 Rising Star: De’Braylon Carroll

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We saw flashes this season, but we’ve only scratched the surface of what 2019 Rice Football Rising Star De’Braylon Carroll will do at South Main.

Defensive coordinators around the country have already started kicking themselves for letting De’Braylon Carroll slip past them. During his senior season at Duncanville, Carroll anchored a Duncanville defense that allowed 4.6 points per game. That production didn’t slow down at Rice, making him an easy pick for The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Rising Star.

A unanimous Defensive MVP in District 8-6A during his senior season, Carroll wasn’t recruited as heavily as some of his teammates. There were concerns that his height (listed on the Rice football roster at 6-foot) would limit him at the next level. Starters from that defense earned D1 scholarships around the country. Carroll quietly watched the early signing period come and go, waiting until January to make his pledge. His choices? Air Force, Alabama A&M, Georgetown, Harding, Navy and Rice.

The short list didn’t deter Carroll. He climbed from the scout team to the second team almost immediately upon his arrival on campus. By the end of fall camp, the true freshman was frequently taking reps with the first team defense. He was a fixture in the defensive line rotation from that point on,

Carroll picked up his first career sack against Louisiana Tech, brining down J’Mar Smith for a loss of 14 yards. He finished the year with 14 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. His season-best four-tackle game came in his collegiate debut on the road against Army. While playing limited snaps behind defensive team captain Myles Adams, Carroll was selected to the Pro Football Focus All-Freshman team this season.

Time and time again he showed he could produce when given the opportunity. His quickness and power at the point of attack became a problem for Conference USA offensive lines. The Owls didn’t get many sacks this season, but the disruption players like Carroll and Adams were able to cause on the interior made a difference. Some of the conference’s best quarterbacks — Jack Abraham at Southern Miss and Mason Fine at North Texas — struggled to find any semblance of rhythm.

Waves of freshmen saw the field for Rice football in 2018. That changed this season, as the young core of Owls had an additional year of experience under their belt. Only three true freshmen played in every game in 2019: linebacker Adrian Bickham, tight end Jack Bradley and Carroll. That short list confirms what those who watched Carroll play this season already know, you can’t keep a player that talented off the field.

Carroll’s impact went beyond the boxscore. Those relying on the stat sheet to project how impactful the Rice front seven will be next season are in for a surprise.

Carroll will be ready and waiting for his turn. Adams has exhausted his eligibility and moved on. Rice has yet to sign any interior defensive lineman in their most recent recruiting class. The starting job is going to be Carroll’s. If he continues to play at this level he won’t fly under the radar for much longer.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 Early Signing Period Roundup

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The 2020 Rice Football recruiting class had an eventful December. Here’s an overview of The Roost’s coverage of the Owls’ newest additions.

The New Year will bring another flurry of activity for the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class. The Owls have another half dozen or so spots to hand out in the class, earmarking several of them for high-profile graduate transfers. Before we look ahead, don’t miss the impressive haul already in the fold. Here’s a rundown of the big week.

Five players committed to Rice in December:

In total, Rice signed 17 players during the early signing period. 11 of those were on offense, with the remaining six on defense. Only one commit,FB Brian Hibbard remains unsigned. He is expected to sign in February.

We broke down several angles of this class, from the 10,000-foot view to position by position analysis. On the macro perspective, here are five takeaways from the 2020 class as it currently stands. Rice addressed their biggest needs and won some impressive head to head battles on their way to constructing what could be a program-altering class.

More specifically, here’s a snapshot of the defensive haul and of the commits on the offensive side of the ball.

If you’re traveling over the holidays, and you’ve already read through the written analysis, make sure you give The Roost Podcast a listen. Carter and I worked through the impact of the incoming players, honing in on how each player would fit at Rice among others at their position.

The Roost Podcast | Ep. 22 – Rice Football Early Signing Period

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