Los Angeles Chargers select Brenden Rice in seventh round of 2024 NFL Draft

USC wide receiver Brenden Rice has now become the next in the family tree to make it to the league following the prolific career of his father Jerry Rice. Selected with the No. 225 overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Rice started off his college career at Colorado, spending his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Buffs where he caught 27 passes for 419 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 20 yards per catch as a freshman at Colorado, but really put his big-play ability on display after transferring to USC.

As a junior with the Trojans recorded 39 catches for 611 yards and four scores, building on his production this past season where he had a career-high 45 receptions for 791 yards and a team-leading 12 touchdown catches. Earning second-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors in his senior season.

Rice played high school football at Hamilton High School in Chandler (AZ) where he was a three-star prospect, ranked the No. 406 overall recruit and the No. 75 wide receiver in the 2020 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Rice has a different build and play style than his father with a game that’s more physically imposing, making defenders pay after the catch while also displaying great hands with just two drops last season. Also excelling at finding open space in scramble drills with quarterback Caleb Williams.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Brenden Rice

Rice will surely be NFL ready with his Hall of Fame father in his corner. And although his game doesn’t necessarily resemble his dad’s NFL analyst Lance Zierlein believes his skillset with some areas of strength and weakness to improve upon.

“The bloodlines don’t get much better than Jerry Rice, so Brenden Rice might have a head start on the rest of the field. He’s big and plays a physical brand of football when cornerbacks want to fight over space,” Zierlein said.

“He lacks sudden feet, so beating press cleanly and separating on short routes could be challenging as a pro. Rice possesses good build-up speed to create deep-ball opportunities once his ball skills are added to the equation. Rice catches with quick, strong hands and good extension to help with frequent contested catches. There are some limitations at play, but he has enough checkmarks to project as an early backup with some upward mobility.”