Big Board ranking: #51
Positional ranking: #7
Overview
Position: WR
College: SMU
Class: Senior
Age: 23
Measurables
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 204 lbs.
Arm length: 32 3/4″
Hand size: 9 1/2″
Athletic testing
40-yard dash: 4.51 sec.
10-yard split: 1.49 sec.
Vertical jump: 41.0″
Broad jump: 128.0″
Bench press: N/A
3-cone drill: N/A
Short shuttle: N/A
Strengths
Strong lower body with impressive play strength. Has the frame to add upper-body bulk. Smooth movement skills. Tremendous build-up speed. Very good acceleration/burst. Sticky hands. Catches the ball away from his body. Can pluck off-target passes out of the air. Effective on deep and short posts. Excellent on curl routes and hitches. Does a nice job working back to the ball on perimeter routes. Exceptional focus when contested at the catch point. Presents a target for the quarterback and has a good feel for sitting in zones. Brings some shake as a route runner. Able to release and stack on vertical routes. Great leaping ability. Will make 50-50 grabs in contested coverage. Often used on screen passes. Very strong and aggressive with the ball in his hands. Quick to turn into a runner. Will lower his shoulders through contact. Phenomenal blocker in terms of both technique and effort. Almost exclusively stayed on the right side of the formation in 2022 but saw snaps in the slot and played various spots in previous years. Team captain. Showed ball skills with multiple near spectacular grabs along the boundary in the end zone with full one-handed extensions (passes thrown too far out of bounds to count).
Weaknesses
Has far too many drops despite ball skills. Ran a very limited route tree. Can really struggle to get clean releases versus physical press jams. Ball tracking is inconsistent. Allowed throws to be undercut over the middle. Showed some fumbling issues.
NFL comparison
Romeo Doubs
Conclusion
Overall, Rice is a smooth wide receiver that can beat opponents vertically and brings physicality as a runner and blocker. The natural ball skills and being a team captain should give teams reason to believe he can work to cut down on the drops and expand his route tree.