Draft Analysis: Brenden Rice

Height: 6’2″
Weight: 208 lb.
College: USC
Tape watched: Oregon, Arizona State, Tulane
NFL Comparison: Donovan Peoples-Jones

Pros

Size

Brenden Rice has an NFL ready frame. He has a powerful lower base and an upper body that bullies smaller cornerbacks. He has a nice stiff arm and can run over defenders for extra yards.

Hands

The name doesn’t lie here, as the son of the GOAT has incredible hand skills. Rarely, if ever, did Brenden Rice not extend his hands to vacuum up the football. He has powerful grip strength that not only tears the ball away from defenders, but also allows him to secure the ball quickly in contested situations.

YAC

Drafting Rice adds a running back to your receiving room. Just a tenacious runner, Rice looks for defenders to punish after the catch. Rice is a north-south runner, meaning he won’t waste time or yardage running laterally. I believe Rice was underutilized with the ball in his hands at USC.

Rice turns a routine play into a first down

Midline

Route Running

Rice takes some interesting paths during his route stems. He can be too focused on winning with contact when the situation doesn’t necessitate it. That being said, I really like how aggressive he attacks each route. He does a really nice job of selling vertically to the defense on every route. Rice also was the perfect scramble drill receiver for Mr. Magician Caleb Williams, keeping himself available for a late throw and never giving up on plays.

Blocking

With all the physical tools at his disposal, Rice’s blocking game is inconsistent. His hand placement ends up outside the shoulders far too often. Rice also gives up much needed leverage by staying too high in his stance. However, he shows good effort and has plenty of strength to be a contributor in the run game.

Cons

Release

Rice struggle playing outside of his frame. His jab steps are unconvincing and rarely get the defender to turn their hips. He doesn’t use proactive hands enough either. Rice lacked a clear plan of attack to set up his routes off the line of scrimmage, often stemming his routes the wrong way trying to over-correct. A physical receiver like Rice needs to take the fight to the corner and win with size and strength more often.

Rice wastes too much time setting up his stem here. He then releases the wrong way, and finishes by initiating unnecessary contact that puts him out of position to catch a perfect pass.

Separation/Contested Catches

As the title suggests, you have to at least succeed at one or the other. In the NFL you need to be able to separate from defenders to fit throws into open windows, or you have to be able to convert catches regardless of separation. Rice can struggle to win consistently in both areas.

Downfield, he converted only 3/14 downfield perimeter targets. He converted just under 43% of contested targets in his two years at USC, not an elite number for someone who should pride themself on being dominant in this area.

Overview

Brenden Rice is an intriguing prospect. From the Hall of Fame blood that runs through his veins, to the interesting blend of size, hand talent, and playstyle. Brenden Rice has a skillset that would create matchup problems in the slot. A transition there could allow Rice to have more space to operate with better matchups. USC failed to utilize him in this capacity, with Rice playing almost 90% of snaps on the perimeter.

Rice could end up being one of the best receivers in this class in five years and it wouldn’t be surprising. He could also have a career where he struggles to find his way on the field. Rice needs to play stronger through his routes, refine his release, and become a consistent combat catch receiver.