Packers Host ‘Yoked’ Star from New ‘Receiver U’

The Green Bay Packers have hit a series of home runs with their Day 2 receivers. Could SMU’s Rashee Rice be the next in line?

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Apr 19, 2023 1:01 PM EDT
Original:
Apr 19, 2023

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – SMU receiver Rashee Rice led the nation in receiving yards per game.

With a bad toe.

“If you look at his first three games, specifically the Maryland game against a top-flight corner [first-round prospect Deonte Banks] where he was explosive, versus after he got hurt, he was still tough and productive because he loves to ball,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said at the recent pro day.

“He loves to compete, that's what he loves to do. He had plenty of chances to shut it down in the middle of the year, and no one would've blamed him. He didn't because he loves to compete and play with his teammates.”

The Green Bay Packers hosted Rice on a predraft visit on Monday, Rice posted to his Instagram. The Packers have a huge need at receiver – they have only three players on the roster who’ve ever caught a pass in a regular-season game – and Rice checks a lot of the boxes as an explosive, physical performer.

Taking over for Danny Gray as SMU’s next No. 1 receiver, he destroyed North Texas (eight receptions, 166 yards), Lamar (nine receptions, 132 yards) and Maryland (11 receptions, 193 yards) to open the season before hurting his toe the following week against TCU.

Still, he caught 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns, his yardage total breaking Emmanuel Sanders’ school record.

Next up is the NFL, with Rice the latest off the SMU assembly line. Only Alabama has more receivers in the league than SMU, a list that includes Sanders, Courtland Sutton and Gray, a third-round pick last year by the 49ers.

Rice measured 6-foot 5/8 and a powerful 204 pounds at the Scouting Combine, where he ran his 40 in 4.51 seconds with a tremendous 41-inch vertical.

Of 104 receivers in the 2023 draft class to be targeted at least 50 times in the passing game, he ranked fifth with 3.05 yards per route run and 72nd with a drop rate of 8.6 percent, according to Pro Football Focus. He was 16-of-33 in contested-catch opportunities and caught 18-of-40 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

“In my opinion, and probably most people would agree, there’s not a better receiver in the draft that can catch the ball contested like he can,” Lashlee said. “They’re not 50-50 balls with him, they’re 80-20 or better with him. Most of the people can only cover him by tackling him.”

Rice would be a Day 2 target; the Packers have a superb track record with their second-round picks, and his production, size, inside-outside versatility and play style all would make him a strong fit.

“One of his biggest jumps [from freshman to senior year] is his physique," Lashlee said. “He fell in love with the weight room. He was a scrawny freshman, but now he's built, he's yoked. He's a very physical player. The other thing is his explosion. He wasn't a 4.4, 4.5 kid coming out of high school, he wasn't jumping 41 [inches]. He bought into that, a lot of that comes from being in the weight room.”

As an irrelevant footnote, the Packers haven’t drafted a player from SMU since kicker Eddie Garcia in 1982. Before that? Receiver John Roderick in 1966. The legendary Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg was a second-round pick in 1956. The late Ted Thompson played his college ball at the school.