Brendon Rice

[mdonnelly21]

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve seen mock drafts projected to Grab Rice in the 3rd round. 
 

so he falls to the 7th!? 
 

Either people were severely overrating him. Or something else happened 

[PossibleCabbage]

Bloodlines only count for so much.  Sure, JJ and TJ Watt were first round picks, but Derek Watt was went in the 6th.  Jake and Clay Matthews were FRPs but Casey went in the 4th.

With Rice specifically it's that he's not sudden, you don't really trust him to beat press or get separation on short area routes, and while his bread and butter was on deeper routes in college he doesn't really have the speed to take advantage there against NFL talent.  You give him a shot because of the bloodlines, but there were lots of better WRs in the draft who just weren't related to Jerry Rice.  It's not totally different from how Barry Sanders' kid (who played at Stanford and Ok. State) decided just not to play pro football, since he saw the writing on the wall.

Edited April 28 by PossibleCabbage

[Scoundrel]

1 minute ago, PossibleCabbage said:

Jake and Casey Matthews were FRPs but Casey went in the 4th.

Clay

[CasperX22]

He wasn't overly productive with the #1 pick in this year draft throwing him up the ball.  He's not particular fast or the best route runner either.  If his name wasn't Rice I don't think anyone bats an eye that he goes in the 7th.  Day 3 though you take the chance though because he does have NFL traits and great bloodlines.

[seminoles1]

People fall further than expected every year. Just part of the process.

[Armbar]

Bad athlete. Not a great route runner. Most of his production was beating soft zones on slants n stuff. Didn’t surprise me at all to see him slide. 

[bomont]

Yeah he was only drafted at all because of his last name. I expect we'll hear about him selling insurance or used cars in a couple of years (or just living off of his dad's money). 

[Danger]

I think the overall outlook had him as generally a 5th round pick?

[tyler735]

I feel like Rice has gone from being overrated to being underrated over the past few months. He’s certainly not an elite athlete at WR but he does have a good combo of size and speed to work with. His initial burst is average, but his build up speed is actually pretty good.

Several examples of him being able to get in behind DB’s on deeper routes. He also clocked the 4th fastest top speed at the combine among WR’s at 23.7 mph. On the field he also hit 21.7 mph. Ran a 10.7 100m in high school as well. At 6’2” 210lbs with solid production this past season to go along with his athleticism, I feel like he would have been worth a chance in the 5th/6th round even without the “Rice” name. Was honestly hoping the Saints would snag him late in the draft.

 

[NudeTayne]

3 hours ago, tyler735 said:

I feel like Rice has gone from being overrated to being underrated over the past few months. He’s certainly not an elite athlete at WR but he does have a good combo of size and speed to work with. His initial burst is average, but his build up speed is actually pretty good.

Several examples of him being able to get in behind DB’s on deeper routes. He also clocked the 4th fastest top speed at the combine among WR’s at 23.7 mph. On the field he also hit 21.7 mph. Ran a 10.7 100m in high school as well. At 6’2” 210lbs with solid production this past season to go along with his athleticism, I feel like he would have been worth a chance in the 5th/6th round even without the “Rice” name. Was honestly hoping the Saints would snag him late in the draft.

 

Yeah, I would have drafted him. I can't believe SF just kept passing on him 😔.

[Sugashane]

He was a late round prospect to me. He and Washington both were overrated IMO, Williams made them look better than they really were. Rice is a better athlete than his testing at the Combine showed IMO, but he is still a project. FWIW I did draft him in my dynasty, but it was a late pick for a reason. A lot of it is just the immediate connection he already has with Williams and the rest is that I have a major disdain for Velus Jones still being paraded around as if he was a WR. 

[Tugboat]

10 hours ago, tyler735 said:

I feel like Rice has gone from being overrated to being underrated over the past few months. He’s certainly not an elite athlete at WR but he does have a good combo of size and speed to work with. His initial burst is average, but his build up speed is actually pretty good.

Several examples of him being able to get in behind DB’s on deeper routes. He also clocked the 4th fastest top speed at the combine among WR’s at 23.7 mph. On the field he also hit 21.7 mph. Ran a 10.7 100m in high school as well. At 6’2” 210lbs with solid production this past season to go along with his athleticism, I feel like he would have been worth a chance in the 5th/6th round even without the “Rice” name. Was honestly hoping the Saints would snag him late in the draft.

 

 

I think that if anything, this highlights the problem with Rice's speed, and athleticism in general.  He's just very robotic and not very sudden.

It's basically the same thing as talking about 0-60 times vs Trap Speed in a drag race.  In the real world, that 0-60 time is a lot more important to practical uses than the trap speed or "top speed".  Having such a high "trap speed" relative to the overall 40-time is basically indicative of very pronounced "build up speed".  Which is really only functional if the guy is running a 40 yard+ go route downfield in a straight line.  And that's if they don't get disrupted even more off the line, or have to make an adjustment on the ball in the air late in the route anyway, etc.

It's far more functional and versatile to have more initial speed, more quickly, and within shorter distances.  For...actually running routes with dynamic speed and suddenness.  Especially when...at the end of the day, the results reinforce the idea that having a high "max speed" still gets you to a point 40 yards downfield in a longer elapsed time than someone with more initial quickness and even a lower "top speed".  So even in that very niche case of running a 40-yard go route...you're still better off with the guy who gets there quicker, even if they're not travelling as fast when they get there.

 

Top speed in a lot of things is pretty overrated.  Rarely has many practical applications.  It's the ease of getting to a respectably high top speed that matters more and tends to have more impact.

[Techbert]

Rice seemed to me to be very herky-jerky in his movements. I have a preference for efficient athletes who ironically do not always look fast. They stay healthier for longer, on average, and can learn better techniques faster.

[Sllim Pickens]

People in here saying he only got drafted because of his last name must have missed that Tariq Owens and Frank Gore Jr both went undrafted.  And those claiming he doesn't have great speed or it takes too long to build up his speed are also too stuck on 40 times which is the combine test that has the least correlation to NFL success for WR's.  Rice is a deep threat WR primarily shown by his 18 yards per catch and 12 TDs this year.  But that's not his only trick.  I think he vastly outplays his draft spot and has become underrated with some guys getting drafted higher with worse speed and worse stats and worse agility like Ja'lynn Polk, Johnny Wilson, Javon Baker, etc and I think he has a better career than them.  He was much more athletic than Keon Coleman who went early 2nd round and although I think Coleman obviously has other traits I like better than Rice, but you can't say he isn't athletic enough when guys like Coleman go in round 2.      

[TecmoSuperJoe]

On 5/1/2024 at 1:52 AM, NudeTayne said:

Yeah, I would have drafted him. I can't believe SF just kept passing on him 😔.

I mean we passed on Owens' and Gores' kid in the draft. Didn't draft CMC's brother. 

Would probably be unprofessional to draft someone simply based on a bloodline. 

Brenden Rice has Herbert throwing to him now, so if he doesn't produce then it's all on him. 

Edited Wednesday at 11:34 PM by TecmoSuperJoe