Rashee Rice, A Playmaker WR You’ll Want in Rookie Drafts

Rashee Rice

SMU Wide Receiver 6’0″ 200 lbs.

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2022 Stats: 96 rec 1355 yds 14.1 ypc 10 td

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Pros

Rashee Rice is a senior wide receiver out of SMU who can be a reliable boundary presence and big-time playmaker off shorter routes in the NFL, but does not necessarily fit the bigger alpha, X archetype. He was a 3-star recruit out of high school and produced well in SMU’s spread offense, including catching almost 100 passes and surpassing 1300 yards in 2022, to go along with 10 touchdowns.

Before about a week ago, one thing to like about Rice was his size. he was listed at 6’2″ and 203 lbs. Measurements at the Senior Bowl revealed he is a hair above 6’0″ and an even 200 lbs. Rice is by no means small, though. He can still be an effective outside receiver at that size. Rice positions his body well and tracks the ball as you want to see a receiver like him do it. He extends well for off-target passes and “plays bigger than his size.” Rice plays with the mentality that it is his ball, and he will either catch it or draw a pass interference call.

Rice runs his routes well. He has good athleticism and the technique to manipulate defensive backs. While almost all rookie wide receivers can be tagged with “remains to be seen how he will do against press coverage in the NFL,” Rice’s reps there were not bad, and scouting types laud his ability to get release. While not a burner, Rice accelerates well and gets open at all three levels of the field. He is an elusive runner who fights through contact, racking up YAC.

From an analytics perspective, there are some things to like about Rice. His size checks the “alpha” box, even if barely, and his likely 40 time of under 4.45 checks that box and gives him a good speed score. Rice’s breakout age was 19, and he hit the dominator rating marks for 20+% in year 1 or 2, and 30+% at least once.

Cons

While Rice often displays good hands and makes impressive catches, drops have also plagued him throughout his college career, and Senior Bowl observers noted several drops for him that week. He will need to improve on that to be successful in the NFL and help us on our fantasy rosters.

Rice runs good routes and was a huge part of the SMU offense, but like many receiver prospects, his route tree is fairly limited. Additionally, while his smaller-than-listed size might make some of his tape seem more impressive, he is not quite the “big body” wide receiver prospect archetype. Finally, while some did like what they saw from Rice versus man coverage, his top PFF receiving grade vs. man was only 69.3 (in year 3).

From an analytics perspective, Rice won’t check the age box. Like my previously profiled prospect Tyjae Spears, he was not an early declare. His draft day age is 23. And Rice’s career receiving yards per team pass attempt (RYPTPA) mark of 1.67 is below the 2.0 threshold we want to see from wide receivers.

Summary

Rashee Rice is a dynamic, physical outside receiver with real NFL upside. He is among the top 5 to 7 prospects at the position in this year’s draft class. Rice will likely get day 2 draft capital in the 2023 NFL Draft. He could have a pretty immediate impact on limited reps as he learns more routes, but should not be expected to be a team’s WR1 right away, if ever. Rice is solidly in the second-round rookie draft range for now, and I don’t foresee anything happening to push him up into the first or down to the third.

There aren’t many NFL teams that couldn’t use a wide receiver like Rice. The Saints (41st and 72nd overall), Titans (42nd and 73rd), and Jets (44th and 75th) seem like good fits. If the Texans (34th and 66th) don’t address wide receiver with the 12th overall pick, he could go there, though I don’t like that landing spot for him as much as I like the others.

Ideal Role: NFL WR2

2023 Dynasty Rookie Draft Projection: 2nd round

Player Comp: Terry McLaurin, Michael Gallup, college Chris Godwin