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Rice Football Recruiting: QB Drew Devillier commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend including quarterback Drew Devillier, the newest of the Owls’ commits.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. One key recruit wasn’t able to make it to camp, but didn’t miss out on the excitement. Quarterback Drew Devillier has committed to the Owls.

Devillier picked Rice over offers from Pitt, North Texas and others. His offer list was on the shorter side in part because as of a week previous, Devillier was committed to TCU to play baseball. He decommitted on June 12, announcing his intention to pursue a future in both baseball and football. Rice stepped up to the plate and won his services. Devillier plans to pursue both sports at Rice.

Devillier credited his relationship with offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo as crucial to his decision to pledge his future to the Owls, that and his comfort level with the offensive scheme.

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The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Devillier has a cannon for an arm and can really sling the football, but it’s ability to create off-schedule that jumps out most on his film. Devillier told The Roost “[I] feel like I have the ability to make any throw on the field. I think I improvise on broken plays pretty well also.” That certainly shines through on tape.

Devillier is a threat with the football that can make defenses pay when they cheat too far to either extreme, either in coverage or at the line of scrimmage. He’s a big get for the Owls, who have secured their quarterback of the future in the early weeks of the summer as the 2024 class really starts to grow in earnest.

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Rice Football Recruiting: RB Taji Atkins commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class took off over the weekend with eight new additions. The first, running back Taji Atkins, has committed to the Owls.

The camp circuit came to South Main this past weekend and the 2024 Rice football recruiting class benefited from the influx of talent onto campus. Hundreds of campers came through and a host of them left with offers. Eight made their verbal pledges to the program. Running back Taji Atkins was the first to go public, leading the charge on this weekend’s recruiting boom.

Atkins had racked up a fairly lengthy offer list before the Westfield product made his pledge to the hometown team. He picked Rice over offers from Tulsa, North Texas, Texas State, Sam Houston, San Diego State, Navy, Utah State and others. Beating out multiple AAC peers and a few instate, FBS opponents is a positive mark for the Owls when it comes to Atkins’ recruitment.

On the field, the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Atkins can do so many different things with the ball in his hands. He’s the kind of playmaker you get on campus as quickly as you can with the knowledge that he’ll find himself a place in the offense to make a difference soon enough.

As it stands, Atkins is the fourth member of the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class which will balloon past 10 members once all of this weekend’s commitments are announced. He’s the first running back in the fold and only the second high school running back the Owls’ have received a commitment from in the past four classes dating back through the 2021 class.

Update: Atkins decommitted from Rice in October but relationships with the Rice football recruiting staff remained in place. He hadn’t soured on the Owls, rather he wanted to test the waters elsewhere. Fortunately for all parties, Atkins has come full circle and repledged to Rice in mid-January.

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Atkins is an offensive weapon, a human highlight reel. Every recruit has some splash plays they put on the front of their film, Atkins’ homerun plays seemed to play forever. He has speed but there are flashes of power and patience in his game too. And the vision he runs with helps amplify those traits as he moves. He’s a ton of fun to watch and will be an incredibly useful piece in the Owls’ offense.

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Rice Football Recruiting: WR Arden Napier commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class found another JUCO gem. Wide receiver Arden Lee Napier has committed to the Owls.

It’s been a JUCO summer for Rice football recruiting. With a trio of transfers already lined up from the junior college ranks, the Owls have added a fourth. Wide receiver Arden Lee Napier from Citrus College has committed to the Owls.

Originally from Houston, Napier played his high school ball at Episcopal in town before heading out west for school. After one season in the JUCO ranks he entered the Transfer Portal and ended up receiving interest from a half dozen schools, selecting Rice over McNeese State, among others.

In addition to being close to home, Napier told The Roost the roster and the staff helped him make his decision. “I felt like Rice was the best overall opportunity for me. It’s a great academic school, and great football program with coaches and players who all want the best for each other.”

Napier will have three years of eligibility remaining when he gets to campus giving the Owls some depth at a position with several veteran options already lined up. The long list of playmakers did not deter Napier, rather it was part of the Owls’ allure.

“Rice has a great quarterback room and great wide receiver room that are gonna connect for a lot of huge plays,” he said. “I’m ready to come compete to be a part of that this season.”

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There’s a lot to like on the film with Napier. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver is a big target who moves fairly well considering his size. That’s a body type that has traditionally faired well in the Rice offense under head coach Mike Bloomgren and offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo. Napier says he takes pride in his route running ability, something that does flash in his highlights below.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 146 – ’23 Tulane Preview with Fear The Wave’s Kelly Comarda

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The Roost Podcast continues its AAC previews. Up next: Kelly Comarda of the Fear The Wave previews Tulane football in 2023.

The last time Rice football and Tulane met regularly on the field, both programs were in very different places. The Green Wave weren’t conference championship caliber quite yet; it was the Owls that were piling up points and wins in those years. Now Rice is on the come up and Tulane is the team to beat. Kelly Comarda from Fear the Wave describes the transformation in this week’s episode.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 146.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite. Shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

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Previewing 2023 Tulane football with Kelly Comarda

  • How did Tulane pull off its magical 2022 season?
  • Has there ever been another Willie Fritz, a coach to win big so late in his career?
  • Do the Mean Green have the right pieces to make another run at an AAC title?
  • Where does NIL fit in Tulane’s journey to success?
  • Which pieces could be difference-makers on defense?
  • The Lightning Round

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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First Look: Rice Football, AAC Over/Under Odds

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Earlier this week Circa Sports posted early over/under odds for every FBS team. Here’s where Rice football and other AAC teams stack up.

AAC Teams

  • Charlotte – 3
  • Tulsa – 4.5
  • UAB – 4.5
  • USF – 4.5
  • Rice – 4.5
  • Temple – 5
  • East Carolina – 5.5
  • Navy – 6
  • North Texas – 6
  • FAU – 7.5
  • SMU – 8
  • UTSA – 8
  • Memphis – 8.5
  • Tulane – 9

Rice football nonconference opponents

  • Texas Southern – n/a
  • UConn – 4.5
  • Houston – 4.5
  • Texas – 9.5

Takeaways

On the AAC front, Tulane being projected as the front-runner in the league isn’t too much of a surprise, especially with the return of quarterback Michael Pratt, several other key players and some added reinforcements from the transfer portal.

What might be most compelling to watch is the race alongside them. Four additional schools (FAU, SMU, UTSA and Memphis) are within a game and a half of first. That means if the conference race seems fairly wide open to you, oddsmakers are feeling the same way and looking to hedge their bets.

Likewise, there’s a game and a half gap between the next teams (North Texas and Navy) and everyone else in the conference, save Charlotte. Vegas doesn’t have much faith in the 49ers and their new head coach, but it doesn’t seem confident in anyone else to be a surefire bowl team either. That’s the recipe for a chaotic and exciting season.

As for Rice football, the Owls are pegged to finish in the middle to bottom of the new-look AAC. After finishing around the four to five-win mark in recent years and the step up in some of the competition they’ll face, that doesn’t feel too surprising.

What is most intriguing, though, is the quality of the Owls’ opponents. Rice plays Charlotte, Tulsa, UAB, USF, ECU, UConn and Houston in 2023. Add in Texas Southern and that’s eight of 12 opponents projected to be either from the FCS ranks or projected to be at or below .500. There are hard games coming (UTSA, SMU, Tulane, Texas) but Rice won’t absolutely require a miraculous upset to reach bowl eligibility.

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