Background
- Height: 6023
- Weight: 208
- Age at draft: 22
- Relative Athletic Score: 7.17
- 2023: 45 receptions for 791 yards and 12 touchdowns
- Played two seasons at Colorado and two at USC
Where Rice creates advantages
The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wideout Jerry Rice, football runs in Brenden’s DNA. The former Trojan standout has a good size and length blend for a receiver, and it primarily shows up in his fantastic blocking prowess. That trait may not be a sexy one among wideouts but for a young player, being so profound there is a notable plus. Rice is a smart receiver who’s willing to compete at the catch point. His frame, as well as being a reliable catcher, comes in handy (get it?) there.
Rice’s athleticism is nothing to write home about, although he’s a solid straight-line runner throughout his stem. He is capable of working his way back to the football and running a nice scramble drill for his quarterback. Even at his size, the 22-year-old is much more of a zone-beater than a walking man-to-man mismatch. Rice’s increase in production during his final season at USC suggests he’s matured greatly as a receiver. He doesn’t shy away from physicality.
Where Rice could be at a disadvantage
While solid, Rice isn’t a great athlete whatsoever in terms of speed, burst or fluidity. He doesn’t get in and out of his breaks extremely well and doesn’t take the top off of a defense. He won’t win too often with quick feet and/or speed releases threatening his assignment. His length makes up for a slight lack of verticality. None of this is a reason to sound an alarm, but it could be what limits Rice’s ceiling in the pros.
Creating yards after the catch is more of an idea than an application with Rice. He’s a fiery competitor and his size should make him hard to bring down, although that simply isn’t always the case. He’s far from dominant at the catch point, too, despite being solid. He will have to rely on instincts, leverage and timing to maximize his skill set. Rice didn’t run a terrific route tree at USC and had somewhat inconsistent production snap-to-snap and game-to-game until that final season in college.
The verdict
Teams looking for a young receiver this year are in luck, as the 2024 NFL Draft has plenty of good ones. At the top of the class, round one may have as many as 10 players worthy of being picked within the first 32 selections. The top 50 itself is chock-full of quality names, then there’s a drop to more reasonable targets for Day Two or very early Day Three.
Rice is likely in the upper-middle tier as far as 2024 wideouts are concerned. He’s an intelligent player with respectable athleticism and a simple knack for making plays. That gives him a relatively high floor as a possible rotational contributor, but his upside doesn’t rival many of his peers. The club that selects him will have to be okay with that.The Chiefs very well could be that club. Not only does Rice’s understanding of spacing and leverage make him an easier projection for year one, but he’s also reliable overall. His willingness to block and ability to bring down most passes adds intrigue to his profile. Kansas City selected a receiver named Rice in the second round a year ago and saw him lead the group in production. While this year’s Rice is more of a third-round player, he might just be worth investing in.
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