Rice’s steady interior enforcer with preseason All-Conference buzz
In the 2025 season, Dillan Botts gave Rice real snaps-and-grit value: he played in all 13 games, started 10, logged 345 defensive snaps, posted a 69.4 PFF grade as the Owls’ top interior lineman, and finished with 16 tackles plus six hurries and a pass breakup. He’s a compact 6-foot-1, 286-pound senior who plays with a sturdy, inside-body type and enough disruption to matter beyond box-score stats. The preseason Third Team All-AAC nod signals coaches and observers see him as a reliable, high-floor fit for a defense that wants tough, assignment-sound trench work.
