Monty Rice

Monty Rice

LB

Georgia

Height

6'0"

Weight

233

Vertical	Hand	Arm	Wingspan
32"	8 5/8"	30 3/4"	75"

40-Time	Vertical	Broad Jump	3-Cone
4.58	32"	10' 1"	7.34

10-Time	20-Time	20-Shuttle	60-Shuttle
		4.33

6.81 Final Grade

Foot (2020)

Injury History

Games Evaluated

vs Alabama (2020), vs Tennesse (2020), vs Florida (2020), vs LSU (2019)

Team Fit

NYG

LAR

Strengths

Rice is a sideline to sideline linebacker. He has good range and solid lateral agility. He has good speed and can chase down players all over the field. He is explosive at the snap and has the closing quickness to bring down anyone on the field. He has a great ability to break down and take good pursuit angles. He is a legit asset in coverage. He is terrific in getting depth and reading the quarterback in zone coverage. He has fluid hips and light feet that enables him to stay with receivers in man coverage. He is an extremely talented open field tackler. His timing is immaculate when rushing the passer. His ability to read and react is terrific. He is also a tremendous leader, who did a great job calling the shots for the Bulldogs defense. He is also very versatile due to his athleticism.

Weaknessess

Rice is undersized for his position. He struggles to shed blocks and is often driven back several yards when engaged with a lineman. He does not stack well against the run. He struggles being physical in between the tackles due to his lack of physicality and size. At times he tries to avoid blocks, which causes him to be out of position. He has a tendency to hold speedy receivers in coverage leading to penalties. Although Rice is an explosive pass rusher, he does not possess any pass rush moves. This causes him to get stuffed and driven back often.

Big Picture

Rice is a run and chase linebacker. He is explosive at the snap and has the speed to go sideline to sideline. He is an exciting open field tackler. He plays the linebacker position like a defensive back. He is great in getting depth and breaking on the ball in zone coverage. He also possesses the hip fluidity to cover receivers in man coverage. The downside to Rice is that he is undersized. This causes him to struggle in the run game, due to his inability to shed blocks. Also, he is a one dimensional pass rusher, that only has one pass rush move...the bull rush. His bull rush is explosive, but not always effective. Rice looks the part of what the NFL is looking for in an inside linebacker. He has the athletic tools, instincts and leadership qualities all teams desire. He will however have to improve his physicality in between the tackles and develop more as a pass rusher if he wants to be an every down linebacker. Rice offers versatility on both defense and special teams. He needs time to develop, but has a lot of upside for the team that decides to take a chance on him.

Player Comp

Devin Bush Jr.

Athleticism:

6.95

7.25

Rice is an elite athlete. He possess great lateral agility and flashes in and out of breaks. He is extremely explosive at the snap. He has good speed, that allows him to fly around the field. It also allows for him to close on the ball carrier quickly and in coverage. His lack of size and frame, causes weak play strength.

Lateral Agility	Explosiveness	Playing Speed	Play Strength	Closing Quickness
7	7.5	7	6	7.25

6.63 Pass Rush Ability:

7.25 Big Play Ability

First-Step Quickness	Rush with Leverage	Pass Rush Moves	Timing
7	6.5	6	7

He is explosive at the line of scrimmage and his timing is excellent when he rushes the passer. His pass rush moves are very limited. Due to his lack of size and technique, his rush leverage is weak.

Coverage:

7

7.25

Rice is terrific in coverage. He has great hip fluidity to be able to stay with receivers in man coverage. He does a great job of getting depth and reading the quarterback's eyes in zone coverage. He has good instinct in determining what route the receiver is running.

Fluidity	Route Recognition	Man Coverage	Zone Coverage
7.25	6.5	6.75	7.5

Against The Run:

6.45

7.25

Rice is a strong tackler, especially in the open field. He has great range and has the ability to go sideline to sideline. His ability to take good pursit angles sets him up for a lot of tackles. Rice is weak at the point of attack and struggles mightly to stack and shed. He has a hard time sheding blockers, which puts him out of position.

Play with Leverage	Stack and Shed	Range	Pursuit Angles	Tackling
5.75	5	7	7	7.5

Competitiveness:

7

Rice displayed tremendous leadership at Georgia. He was the heart and play caller of the defense. He often displayed toughness in the hole, even if he was being driven back. His consistency was questionable at times. It appeared he took plays off from time to time.

Toughness	Leadership	Consistency/Motor
7	7.5	6.5

Intelligence:

7

7.25

Rice has unique processing skills. His ability to read the play and react, allowed him to make plays all over the field. He is very versatile due to his athleticism. He can not only help on defense, but special teams as well.

Processing Skills:	Play Recognition	Position Versatility
7.25	6.75	7