NC State football roster analysis: Bradley Rozner commits
The “silly season” for NC State football and the rest of the sport was supposed to have already wrapped up. However, that proved not to be the case for the Wolfpack. A late addition to the Pack roster was made Monday when Rice leading receiver Bradley Rozner announced Monday that he was transferring to NC State for his final season of eligibility.
Here is an analysis of Rozner’s commitment.
Bradley Rozner
Bradley Rozner has been around the block. He graduated from Needville (Tex.) High in 2016. He then attended Cisco College in Abilene, Tex., for three seasons, earning honorable mention All-American honors his final year after he caught 44 passes for 616 yards and 13 touchdowns. That led Rozner to Rice.
In 2019, Rozner was an instant success for the Owls. He grabbed 55 receptions for 770 yards and five touchdowns and was named all-conference by Phil Steele (second team), Pro Football Focus (PFF, third) and the Conference USA coaches (honorable mention). Injuries however limited Rozner over the next two seasons to just one game.
In 2022, Rozner bounced back strong with 44 catches for 876 yards and 10 touchdowns, the latter ranking fifth most in a single season in Rice football history. He went over 100 yards receiving in five games. His 19.9 yards per catch ranked fourth nationally in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) among receivers with at least 40 receptions.
When healthy, Rozner has been productive and effective, as evidenced by PFF’s grades. In 2019, Rozner graded out at 71.2, including 70.3 in the passing game and 73.1 as a run blocker. Around 64.0 is considered average for PFF.
Last season, Rozner’s season-long score was 70.3. In his one game in 2021, during which he caught two passes for 30 yards against Arkansas, Rozner had a 74.7 grade in the contest before getting injured after 26 snaps.
Hurt, though, is a key word when it comes to Rozner. He missed his first two seasons at the junior college level with injuries, and then two more at Rice. Of the seven seasons in which Rozner has been playing post-high school football, he’s only been healthy for three of them.
Another area of needed improvement for Rozner will be becoming more sure-handed. PFF credited Rozner with eight drops and a drop rate percentage of 12.7 percent in 2022. For some perspective, the highest drop rate among NC State receivers last season with double-digit targets was Porter Rooks at 9.5 percent.
NC State football
The fit for NC State football is fairly obvious. The talent at the skill position on offense is perhaps the No. 1 question facing the Wolfpack in the fall, and Rozner could go a significant way to boosting the receiving corps, if healthy.
At 6-foot-5, 204 pounds, Rozner offers size at outside receiver, and he has shown his ability to stretch a defense vertically. Although most of his experience is on the perimeter, he has also taken reps for Rice at slot receiver, too.
Rice quarterbacks had a 95.8 passer rating when targeting Rozner last season. The highest QB rating for returning NC State wideouts with double-digit targets in 2021 is Rooks’ 89.9. Rozner caught 14 of 29 contested passes last fall. No Wolfpack receiver had more than nine, and among returnees, Keyon Lesane’s nine is three more than any other NC State pass catcher.
Furthermore, 37 of Rozner’s 44 catches were for a first down last season. That’s more than twice as many as Lesane’s 18, and Lesane is the only returning NC State receiver with double digit first-down receptions in 2022.
If Rozner can learn the offense quick enough, there seems to be a clear spot for him in the NC State receiving corps.
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