This diminutive speedster has planted himself among the elite running backs in the NFL after two great seasons in the NFL and helping his franchise regain some prominence among Super Bowl contenders.
Rice first began to catch the eye of football fans as a true freshman back at Rutgers University - generally a dreadful college football program. He finished the year with more than 1,000 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns. In his sophomore year he helped Rutgers to a #12 ranking at season's end and rushed for 1,794 yards, a school record. The Scarlet Knights won the Texas Bowl that year for their first bowl win in school history and Rice was the game MVP. Entering '07 Rice was considered a Heisman candidate. Though he didn't win the award he had a tremendous season that included another bowl winning MVP performance with 280 yards rushing against Ball State. Rice left Rutgers for the NFL following his junior season.
Taken in the 2nd round by the Baltimore Ravens, Rice was thrown into the mix quickly. He made his first start in his first game as a pro but would share time with Willis McGahee as Baltimore eased him into the #1 back role. In 2009, however, he won the starting gig outright in the pre-season and set the tone for the year with a 108 yard performance in week 1. He was voted to his first pro-bowl in 2009 and finished with 1,339 yards and 7 touchdowns. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry that year, but was also a viable threat catching the ball as he had 702 receiving yards and just about averaged a first down per reception.
Rice helped the Ravens to a playoff victory on the road against New England in the 2009 playoffs. Pats fans will painfully remember his 84 yard TD scamper on the Ravens first play of the game - the 2nd longest run in playoff history.
2010 was a bit of a regression for Rice, as his numbers took a hit due to some changes in the Ravens' game plan this past season. The addition of Anquan Boldin and the development of Joe Flacco led to more of a passing attack and less focus on getting Ray the ball. He finished with 15 less receptions and wasn't able to get the same production on the ground. The predictability of their rushing offense and the fact that he wasn't sneaking up on anyone this season were both factors in the loss of production for Rice. For his sake, and theirs, the Ravens may want to think about getting back to a game plan that includes more touches for the talented young back, in particular getting him the ball more in space which is where he does his real damage.
Rice loses some value in the fantasy realm because he doesn't score a ton of touchdowns, or get a ton of goal line carries, but he is a dual-threat weapon in the back field and I doubt there are many touchdown drives in Baltimore that Rice isn't a huge part of.
Plus, when he does get in the end zone he makes it count with great celebrations like this......which is based on the greatest internet dance craze of all time...
Despite the regression he still finished with over 1,200 yards rushing and played in all 16 games, proving very durable - an underrated asset for NFL running backs. At just 24 years old Ray Rice looks to have a very promising NFL career ahead of him.
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