Instant analysis of Los Angeles Chargers drafting WR Brenden Rice in seventh round

Travis Wakeman

Instant analysis of Los Angeles Chargers drafting WR Brenden Rice in seventh round image

The Los Angeles Chargers needed more wide receivers coming into this draft and added Ladd McConkey in the second round. In the final round, with their second-to-last pick of the process, they selected USC wide receiver and the son of the greatest wide receiver of all-time, Jerry Rice, Brenden Rice. 

Rice began his college career at Colorado before transferring to Southern Cal. Now he stays in the state of California, the same state his father put up a career that led to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

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Rice will join a Chargers team coached by Jim Harbaugh where he will work closely with wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal. Of course, if the team gets even one-fourth of the player his father was, he will be great. 

 

Rice fell down the board in this draft for whatever reason, as most analysts had a fourth-round grade on him, but for a seventh-round pick, there's more than enough upside in this choice. 

Grade: A

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.