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.