2019 Rice Offensive Preview

By Darice Farris

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One of Mike Bloomgren’s favorite talking points is locker room meritocracy, and he used the Owls’ final spring scrimmage to drive home the point.

That’s when Bloomgren awarded a scholarship — the pigskin equivalent of a battlefield commission — to redshirt freshman Ari Broussard, a walk-on scout team linebacker in 2018 who was moved to running back in the spring.

Broussard was the Owls’ top ground-gainer during a spring dominated by the Rice defense, and his emergence will be a plus for an offense that clings to what some consider quaint concepts these days.

“We’ll huddle up most of the time and have the quarterback look everybody in the eyes and tell them what to do and say ‘ready, break, let’s go,’” Bloomgren said. “And we believe in pounding the rock.”

Redshirt freshman Wiley Green begins fall camp as the front-runner at quarterback, but he and Evan Marshman completed just nine passes in the final scrimmage. Graduate transfer Tom Stewart, late of Harvard, arrives this summer.

Grad transfers also will bolster an offensive line that, Bloomgren said, “is not doing as good a job seeing the game through the same set of eyes as I would wish.”

Nick Leverett, a three-year starter at North Carolina Central, went through spring practice, and Brian Chaffin, who played for Bloomgren at Stanford, arrives this summer along with at least one more grad transfer to join Shea Baker, who moved from guard to center, and returning starters Cole Garcia and Uzoma Osuji.

The Owls will use one back in most sets, and Broussard will compete for playing time with Juma Otoviano, who set a Rice freshman record with 224 yards against Old Dominion, plus sixth-year senior Aston Walter and speedster Cam Montgomery.

Tight ends can be hard to unearth in spread- obsessed Texas, but Bloomgren likes what he sees from Jordan Myers — he’s a safety blanket at H-back and receiver as well — plus Jaeger Bull and Jonathan Sanchez, who missed most of spring with injuries.

The springtime arrival of Bradley Rozner, who had 13 touchdown catches for Cisco College last year, offers flexibility to a group led by Austin Trammel, who had 62 catches last year but missed the spring with a broken finger, and Aaron Cephus, who has 10 TD catches in two seasons.

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