Welcome Brenden Rice, WR, USC
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Originally posted by powderblueboy View Post
Palmer spent a lot of time in the training room and is in his final year.
QJ has many issues.
Going into the season with Palmer/QJ/Ladd /Shark? ...... not a good situation.
They were fortunate. ... he'll contribute this year.
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Getting Rice in the 7th was like trading a 7th round pick to someone for a 4th straight up. This is freaking awesome!!!!
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Originally posted by Ghost of Quacksaw View Post
Still, not a single wasted pick. No reaches. (Is there such a thing as a 'reach' in the 5th round, or later? I'm saying no.)"The author assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this post. The information contained in this post is provided on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness..."
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Originally posted by Ghost of Quacksaw View Post
Coming off "arrogant in interviews" is a far different thing than raping and/or murdering, though, right?!?
IMO, there's an excellent chance that Rice's humble draft spot will only serve to motivate him more. We all saw what he did at USC last fall-- this guy can play football.
Who has it better than us?
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Media saying Brendan Rice is this years Puka Nacua…
Charles Davis of The 33rd Team compared a receiver in this year's class to Nacua given their similar frames. That player is USC's Brenden Rice. Rice and Nacua ran similar 40-times with Rice running slightly faster at 4.5 compared to 4.57. They also tested similar in the broad jump and both are a similar size.
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Originally posted by Ghost of Quacksaw View Post
Damn that Caleb looks good
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Even they don’t know why he fell to the 7th.
The Los Angeles Chargers selected USC wide receiver Brenden Rice with the No. 225 pick in Saturday’s seventh round of the NFL Draft.
The son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, the NFL’s all-time receiving and touchdowns leader, Brenden Rice began his college career at Colorado before emerging over the past two seasons at USC. He was a second-team All-Pac 12 receiver in 2023, catching 45 passes for 791 yards and a team-best 12 touchdowns while playing with quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick of the Chicago Bears.
The Beast’ breakdown
Rice ranked No. 103 in Dane Brugler’s Top 300 big board. Here’s what Brugler had to say about him in his annual NFL Draft guide:
“Understandably, it’s hard living up to the expectations of being Jerry Rice’s son (especially for a young receiver), but he became more and more comfortable in his own skin over the years — and his Hall-of-Fame bloodlines are an obvious plus. He was a frequent visitor to the end zone in 2023 (caught a touchdown every 3.75 catches), and his budding route athleticism made him a weapon on tape (80.0 percent of his catches resulted in a first down or touchdown).
“Though he is efficient in/out of breaks, his separation skills are average at best, and he struggled to consistently win crowded catch points. Overall, Rice must continue working on the finer points to beat press coverage and get open versus NFL corners, but he has the size/speed athleticism and hand-eye coordination to become a better pro than he was a college player. He projects as a backup X/Z receiver with down-the-road starting potential.”
Why he’s a seventh-round pick
His name certainly helps his profile, but Rice emerged as a legitimate NFL prospect following his transfer from Colorado. He caught 84 passes for 1,402 yards and 16 touchdowns over his two seasons with the Trojans, while trimming his number of drops from five in 2022 to two in 2023.
He particularly became a reliable weapon on off-schedule plays for Williams, showcasing his ability to get in sync with a quarterback.
How he fits
The Chargers entered the draft with only four rostered receivers. They added Ladd McConkey to the group in the second round, but they still needed numbers, depth and competition heading into Day 3. Rice provides that. So does Cornelius Johnson, who the Chargers drafted out of Michigan with pick No. 253 in the seventh round.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and Jerry Rice, Brenden’s Hall of Fame father, crossed paths with the Raiders in 2002-03. Harbaugh was the quarterbacks coach in Oakland for those two seasons on Bill Callahan’s coaching staff. Jerry was finishing out his playing career. In 2002, Jerry caught 92 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns, earning All-Pro honors at 40 years old. The Raiders made the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rookie impact
At a minimum, Brenden Rice will have a good chance to make the 53-man roster. He could push for starter-level playing time in 2024. With his frame and athletic profile, Rice projects as an outside receiver. His primary competition will be 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston, who struggled as a rookie, both with drops and route-running. Johnston is an outside receiver. So is Rice. So is Johnson. Those three are in line to battle for that outside spot in 11 personnel in training camp.
Depth-chart impact
Joshua Palmer is the Chargers’ No. 1 receiver. McConkey projects as the No. 2. Palmer and McConkey can play inside and outside. Because of that flexibility, both players likely will rotate into the slot on different plays depending on situation, matchups and concept. That leaves the spot open outside, either at X or Z. The Chargers are now up to seven receivers with the addition of Rice and Johnson. Derius Davis and Simi Fehoko round out the receiver group. Davis is the Chargers’ primary returner. He was an All-Pro punt returner as rookie. Fehoko is a valuable depth/practice squad piece because of his special teams flexibility as a coverage player. The Chargers could still look to free agency to add more competition at receiver.
They also could have picked …
The Chargers need some safety depth, so they could have gone that route in the seventh round. Ohio State’s Josh Proctor and Maryland’s Beau Brade and Texas Tech’s Tyler Owens were on the board. They need both a long-term plan and depth at center, and Florida’s Kingley Eguakun was available. Competition for the fourth edge rusher spot behind Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu could also have been a consideration. UCLA’s Gabriel Murphy was Brugler’s top remaining player. Investing in receiver depth, however, was a sound approach.
Fast evaluation
As Brugler eloquently put in The Beast, Rice has “elite football bloodlines.” Taking a flier on that in the seventh round makes sense. Rice was a touchdown machine in his final season at USC, finding the end zone on one of every 3.75 catches. Size, speed, production — there is a lot to like with this pick. The Chargers were not going to find much better depth receiver options this late in the draft.
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