Caleb Williams & Brenden Rice Can Be Next 'Gronk & Tom Brady' In NFL, Rice Says

If the Chicago Bears take Caleb Williams AND Brenden Rice in this week's NFL draft, they won't regret it ... 'cause Rice tells TMZ Sports he believes the duo can be the next "Gronk and Tom Brady."

The two, of course, got pretty close to that level of greatness while they were teammates at USC -- particularly in 2023, when Rice, the son of Jerry Rice, logged 791 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.

The 22-year-old wideout told us he'd expect a whole lot more of the same if the guys were able to reunite on the Bears, who are expected to take Williams with the No. 1 overall pick Thursday night.

"Man," said Brenden, who's projected to be a Day Two or Day Three pick, "I'm telling you, we could take it. We could be that next duo -- just like Gronk and Tom Brady."

Brenden says he thinks without the distractions of school and everything else that came with playing at a high-profile university like USC, their games could really step up a notch.

As for his thoughts on how Williams will do at the next level with or without him, Brenden made it clear -- he absolutely loves the signal-caller.

Brenden told us he doesn't understand why the 22-year-old QB has received so much hate over the past few months ... saying straight up, "I've been around the dude -- he's a great frickin' person."

"And, a hell of a teammate."