Brenden Rice

Brenden Rice brings a compelling combination of size, athleticism, and football pedigree to the wide receiver position, standing out with his 6'3" frame and impressive physical presence. While his collegiate journey included a breakout season at Colorado and a productive senior year at USC, his final season dominator rating fell slightly below expectations. Nevertheless, Rice's ability to make an impact in the red zone and his proficiency in catching touchdowns highlight his potential as a scoring threat at the next level. His comparison to Josh Palmer underscores the importance of his quarterback and offensive situation in maximizing his impact on the field. Joining the Chargers in the seventh round presents Rice with an opportunity to continue his development and carve out a role in their offense.

Average burst off the line. Rice needs to continue to add to his release package. He doesn't have the raw speed to rely only on his wheels as he doesn't have the raw juice to run by corners. Rice can get pushed off his routes by physical corners or jammed up mid-route. He doesn't flash the speed or route running/release chops to get behind corners deep consistently. He's not a fluid mover, as he looks lumbering at times to get up to top speed, and his change of direction can get clunky. Rice is a decent underneath target with ok hands. He has issues at the catch point with physical corners, with a 48.6% career contest catch rate. His lack of play strength shows up here. Many times, 50/50 balls for Rice are 35/65 balls. Drops have not been a huge issue, though.