RB Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens

HT: 5-8, WT: 199, Born: 1-22-1987, College: Rutgers, Drafted: Round 2

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 11th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: A Foster (2), D Martin (3), Ray Rice (4), J Charles (5), M Lynch (6)
Position: A Foster (2-RB2), D Martin (3-RB3), Ray Rice (4 - RB4), J Charles (5-RB5), M Lynch (6-RB6)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of June 11th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: C Johnson (4), J Charles (5), Ray Rice (6), C Spiller (7), L McCoy (8)
Position: D Martin (3-RB3), J Charles (5-RB4), Ray Rice (6 - RB5), C Spiller (7-RB6), L McCoy (8-RB7)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Outlook

Ray Rice has been arguably the best all-purpose back in the NFL over the last four seasons. He hasn't gained fewer than 1,600 yards from scrimmage in that stretch. The negative side to that number is that his lowest totals in rushing yards, rushing yards per game, receptions, and receiving yards all came last season. The team drafted Bernard Pierce to spell Rice on occasion, and Pierce has proven to be a capable backup. Pierce's play allows a team with annual postseason aspirations to rest its best player and pace him over the course of the 19-20 games they hope to be playing. Rice is still an elite running back and will still be effective with the touches he gets. He may just get fewer this season than he has in any season where he's been the full-time back.

Latest News

Ravens | Ray Rice ready to lead (Mon Jun 17, 08:47 AM) - Baltimore Ravens RB Ray Rice said he's ready to step into a leadership role for the team. 'A leadership role is something I definitely don't mind taking upon now, because I was mentored by one of the greatest leaders probably ever to play the game in Ray Lewis,' Rice said. 'A lot of his leading was by example, and when he spoke, everybody listened because they had that respect for him. So I think being a leader comes with how much respect people have for you. These guys look at the way I work and they understand that my actions are going to show on the field.'

Our View: The team has a huge void in the leadership department. Having Rice or QB Joe Flacco step into that role will be huge for the Ravens. They lost many players this offseason but have reloaded and are ready to make another deep playoff run in 2013.
link to story   

2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Rice started slow, receiving only four touches in the first quarter despite the Ravens having the ball for 16 offensive plays. However, Rice found his rhythm after he punched in a 7 yard touchdown on an off-tackle run in the middle of the second quarter. After the touchdown, Rice began reeling off runs of 10+ yards. While the success of the Ravens' passing game no doubt loosened up the middle for Rice, he looked determined as he ran and showed good balance and footwork in getting through holes between the tackles. Rice scored a second touchdown on a one yard dive in the fourth quarter to put the game away for good. His best run came on a 16 yard rush in the second quarter. The Ravens had moved to the no-huddle and with Joe Flacco in the shotgun, Rice took the ball on a draw and ran through a gaping hole in the left side of the line for a large gain. Rice finished the day with only ten carries but ran for a 6.8 yard average as the Ravens dominated the offensive side of the ball from start to finish in week 1.

Week 2 - Ray Rice had 16 carries and six receptions in this game. In a perfect world, Ray Rice would have 16 carries and six receptions per quarter. Rice is simply phenomenal. Every single time he touches the ball he gets the most he possibly can out of the play. Outside of one play in the third quarter when he ran into his own blocker in the endzone for a loss, Rice always took advantage of his blocking and often extended more with his physical running or elusiveness. Rice's offensive line created a huge hole in the trenches up the middle on his first carry. The hole was quickly filled by Nate Allen, but Rice put his head down and powered through the tackle to gain forward momentum and complete an easy five yard run. That situation was repeated over and over in the game. Even when things didn't go exactly to plan, Rice was able to create on his own. On one play, Vonta Leach missed a block in the backfield ahead of Rice. Despite having a split second to react, Rice showed excellent awareness and a brilliant side step to glide away from two defenders and use Leach's misjudgment to his advantage. Rice turned a potential two yard loss into a four yard gain with his quick thinking and even quicker feet. Rice's longest run of the day came on a designed cutback when right tackle Kelechi Osemele pulled and sealed a gap to the left side of the offensive line. Rice ran right through that gap untouched. Once in open space, he immediately shifted away from Kurt Coleman, barely slowing in the process, and was only caught before the endzone because of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's effort to get across the field. Whenever Rice got into the secondary he either made defenders miss with ease or punished the lighter defenders in his wake with aggressive play. The Ravens abused the Eagles' interior of the defensive line all day while Rice continually gained forward momentum. Outside of his excellent running, Rice also showed off his talents as a receiver. He had two massive receptions in the fourth quarter to extend drives on third and long. He was wide open in the flat on both occasions but carried the ball for first downs. Rice in space is just unfair on defenders, especially secondary players who can't match up to his physicality. He is simply a star and showed it off in an undeserving loss for him personally.

Week 3 - Typical Ray Rice: patient, physical and quick. His longest gain of 19 yards was wiped out because of a penalty, but the Rutgers man still had a nice day. He was untouched on his seven yard touchdown and should give Vonta Leach praise for spectacular blocking all night. The New England rush defense played tough but Rice’s vision behind the line of scrimmage helped him total more than 100 yards for the first time this season. He also took a doomed screen pass and created positive yardage out of nothing. His other receiving accolades include drawing a pass interference and collecting 39 yards on the Ravens fourth quarter touchdown drive. It was Rice’s rushing, however, that set up the pass against the Patriots.

Week 4 - It was a hard-luck game for Rice and in standard leagues, for his fantasy owners. The offensive line’s best run-blocking came when backup Bernard Pierce was in the game. Given two shots near the goal line, Rice was stopped by a penetrating Browns defense. Rice also had a couple gainers negated by penalties. The Browns showed good gap discipline, set the edge and got containment whenever Rice tried to bounce one outside. His best run of the night came in the first quarter when he stiff-armed Craig Robertson to the ground, picked up 10, and smirked about it.

In PPR leagues, however, Rice accumulated cheap stats on his 8 receptions. He played all third downs and was frequently targeted as Flacco’s safety valve in the flat or short middle of the field. Middle screens were effective in the first half and Rice was as dangerous as ever in the open field, using subtle jukes and cutbacks for YAC. After making a one-handed catch, Rice was angling for the end zone when DT Billy Winn tripped him up for a TD-saving tackle. His crazy quicks will serve him well in future weeks.

Week 5 - Watching this game it was very difficult to believe that Rice compiled 118 total yards. For one, he was rarely on the field because of the way the Chiefs dominated time of possession, and he was bottled up on most of his 17 carries. The two exceptions were a 37 yard run in the first quarter and a 26 yard run in the third. The first quarter carry was a sweep left with Rice showing great patience behind the line and then bursting through two arm tackles and outrunning most of the Chiefs defense for a big gain. The third quarter carry also went left but was blocked much better and Rice simply had to follow a convoy for a 26 yard gain. At the end of the game Rice did an excellent job of falling forward on three consecutive carries to ice the victory with one final first down.

Week 6 - Rice was unable to find much room to run against the Cowboys formative defensive line. That said, he was able to use his power between the tackles to generate short gains and set up play action for Joe Flacco. Rice had a pair of one yard touchdowns where he showed good lean in getting across the goalline despite the Cowboys selling out to stop him. His best play came on a 43 yard reception. On the play, Rice lined up next to Flacco in the shotgun, and ran a wheel route out of the backfield, ultimately catching the ball with a full head of steam down the sideline for a large gain. Rice is most often utilized as a runner between the tackles and continues to do an excellent job getting to the hole before the edge rush can stop him for a loss. His best gains came in the interior to the left side as he was unable to find much space at all on runs to the right.

Week 7 - Rice had a poor day against Houston's stout defense in week 7. Despite being one of the league's best interior runners, the Houston defense was quick to close in on Rice on interior runs limiting him to carries of fewer than 3 yards on the majority of his carries. The Houston defense played its linebackers close to the line of scrimmage in a successful ploy to make Joe Flacco beat them over the top and to the outside. As the Houston defensive backs mixed up zone and man coverage, Flacco was unable to capitalize leading to a light rushing day by Rice. Rice's best run came on an off tackle rush that netted 17 yards. On the play, he took the handoff and quickly broke through the line of scrimmage before cutting to the outside for a long gain. Rice used his speed to win the corner and might have run much further if he had more room to the sideline. He finished the day with only nine carries as the Ravens fell in to a deep hole and were forced to pass in an effort to score quickly. Rice also caught 5 passes on 5 targets but they were all of the outlet variety from the backfield with the longest catch going for a mere 7 yards. Rice ran with excellent power between the tackles but even a talent like him can't plow through three defenders on a regular basis.

Week 9 - Rice had his way with the Browns' defense in the first half, but the Browns finally started to get penetration and tackle him once the third quarter began. Rice repeatedly ran off both tackles in the first half, but was consistently met at the line of scrimmage wherever he ran in the second half. One of Rice's multiple big runs in the first half went for a touchdown. From eight yards out, Rice took the ball and sprinted away from a tackler to get to the edge. He then evaded Phil Taylor in open space and got into the endzone with relative ease. Whenever he was given a hole in the defense to run through, Rice took advantage, but the Browns were able to key in on him once Flacco proved to be an inefficient passer.

Week 10 - Rice owners were lucky to see a short touchdown because the game script was to exploit the pass defense of Oakland and the game quickly turned into a blowout. Bernard Pierce saw most of the second half work and Rice was held in check in the run game. His 7-yard score was his longest attempt of the day. Rice had the opportunity for another touchdown, but after getting the team down the 1-yard line, Joe Flacco stole the touchdown with a quarterback sneak. Through the air, Rice was his typical efficient self. He took advantage of good matchups, especially once when lined up against defensive lineman Matt Shaunnessy. Rice won the route with ease as Baltimore marched into field goal range with the big gain. All told, Rice had 68 total yards on 17 touches in a blowout win. Considering the large lead Baltimore had for a majority of the game and the tough early sledding in the run game, it was a good performance by one of the best backs in fantasy.

Week 11 - Pittsburgh sold out to stop Ray Rice. Pittsburgh routinely stacked eight defenders in the box and put the onus on Joe Flacco to beat them on the perimeter. Each of Rice’s carries were hardnosed, AFC North carries that resulted in minimal gains. Throughout the game, Rice displayed great vision and impressive inline run skills that turned losses into three or four yard gains. To offset Pittsburgh interior pressure, the Ravens opted to work the edges and utilize Rice’s superior pass catching ability. During his team’s fourth drive, Rice caught a touch pass from Flacco and accelerated up the right sideline for a 30-yard gain. Lawrence Timmons was matched up against Rice in man coverage, but Timmons chased Flacco as he began to roll out of the pocket. Flacco floated the ball over Timmons and Rice made the play happen in space.

After halftime, Rice registered his longest run of the day, a shifty run up the middle for eight yards. Rice was met by Timmons at the line of scrimmage, but made an impressive jump cut that only a few running backs can make. With his team preserving a small fourth quarter lead, Rice showed why he’s one of the game’s best running backs. Rice did not shy away from contact as he pounded away at the Pittsburgh defense for minimal gains. Even though he didn’t find the end zone, Rice brought stability, an attitude, and leadership to this pivotal AFC North match-up.

Week 12 - Rice put up one of the quietest 164 yards from scrimmage you’ll see, although one of those plays will certainly make all of the highlight reels this week. He was very involved throughout the contest with thirty total touches, but it wasn’t until late in the game that he really started moving the chains. Late in the first half, he broke a 13-yard run but that was mostly because the San Diego defense had softened up with little time remaining and Baltimore facing third and long. Late in the game, Rice found some more running room although the Ravens curiously went away from him in a big spot. Facing fourth down and inches, the Ravens called Bernard Pierce’s number. He was subsequently dropped in the backfield for a huge loss and a turnover on downs. Perhaps that play was fresh in the coaches’ minds when they again faced a critical fourth down. On fourth down and 29 to go, QB Joe Flacco dumped off a short pass over the middle to Rice less than ten yards from the line of scrimmage. Rice did the rest, taking off up the field and using some key blocks to amazingly pick up 29 yards and keep the drive (and game) alive. The officials reviewed the play because it did appear that Rice had come up just shy of the first down marker, but it was eventually determined that he had reached the line to gain. Shortly thereafter, Baltimore kicked the game-tying field goal. In the overtime session, Rice picked up an additional 23 yards on the ground and through the air.

Week 13 - Rice was barely used in the first three quarters of this game, as Bernard Pierce carried much of the workload. On a delayed handoff however, Rice cutback across the field before sprinting down the left sideline for a touchdown that gave his team the lead at an important moment. After that run, Rice opened the next drive with a run outside right tackle that went for 10 yards. Rice finished the game with 12 carries, even though he was often stopped for only short gains, his ability to break off big runs alone warrants that he be given the ball more often in tight games like this. As it so often is, this game is another perfect example of why NFL watchers are very frustrated with the play-calling of Cam Cameron.

Week 14 - The Baltimore Ravens are perhaps the NFL’s most predictable football team, operating in a cyclical situation. In the event of a win, the Ravens receive credit for the extensive use of one of the league’s premier offensive weapons, Ray Rice. However, the Ravens seem to play for the weeks ahead rather than the present, so following a win, Rice’s usage is tapered, which might result in a loss. In the event of a loss, the Ravens – particularly Baltimore Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron – are castigated for Rice’s lack of involvement in the offensive game plan. Baltimore is thus compelled to feature Rice heavily in order to give the team good odds of winning the game. The Ravens lost to the Charlie Batch-led Steelers during Week Thirteen – a game in which Rice did not touch the ball in the fourth quarter – so Rice received twenty-three touches and gained one hundred and forty-two yards from scrimmage against the Redskins in Week Fourteen. Unfortunately, Baltimore lost and Rice suffered a hip pointer injury late in the game, but Rice stuffed the stat sheet nonetheless, as he typically does when the Ravens give him touches. Baltimore also fired Cameron on Monday morning.

Rice looked every bit of the dominant, every-down running back that he is facing, despite facing Washington’s formidable run defense. The Ravens called his number on the first three snaps, and Rice delivered sixty-three yards on the ground, including a forty-six yard scamper off multiple cutbacks. Rice was headed for the end zone, but wide receiver Torrey Smith proved indecisive on a downfield block and the Redskins stopped Rice. Nevertheless, Rice would tote the rock on the very next snap for a twelve-yard run up the gut.

Save that forty-six yard run early in the first quarter, Rice found the Redskins’ front seven to be hard to penetrate. His second-longest run came on his first carry of the third quarter, a nine-yard jaunt off the right guard. The Ravens did a fairly decent job of getting Rice holes to run through, but the Rutgers product did not get far before the Redskins tackled him. Rice did manage to find the end zone at FedEx Field, scoring on a breezy seven-yard run off the left guard. He finished with one hundred and twenty-one yards on the ground and added fifteen yards on three catches. The Ravens reported that Rice was not in major discomfort following his hip injury, and did re-enter the game after suffering it. Rice’s status, along with the situation in Baltimore on the offensive side of the ball, is worth watching in the coming days.

Week 15 - Ray Rice only had a handful of totes on the day for two big reasons. One, the Ravens couldn't get anything going on offense, not converting a first down until midway through the second quarter. Two, the game got out of hand early and forced the Ravens into catch up mode for much of the second half. On Rice's 12 runs, the Broncos defense completely stuffed up the Ravens offensive line and gave Rice almost zero running room. Rice was almost stymied on all 3 of his receptions, the long going for a mere 5 yards. Rice did show nice cuts on two runs out of the shotgun, but we know what he brings to the table in terms of skill at this point. This was simply a day in which one unit overpowered another. Bernard Pierce actually found running room on a couple of runs against a Broncos run defense that played lights out throughout the day, including a 15 yard jaunt down the left hand side. Pierce also broke a 4 yard gain in which he carried multiple tacklers about 3 yards, and turned a -6 yard gain into a half yard gain by causing defenders to miss in the backfield. Pierce showed decent skill given how little room there was to operate on the day.

Week 16 - Ray Rice ran extremely well for the Ravens on Sunday and deserves a lot of credit for dismantling the Giants defense. Rice ran a wide variety of rushing plays very effectively. He had great vision, power and quickness to exploit holes in the Giants up front. Rice also ran with determination and rarely got pushed back by defenders, always falling forward to gain as many yards as available. The Giants defense did not provide much resistance to Rice as they could not stop the pass or running game but Rice did a great job in making them pay. Rice looked very impressive and quick on his touchdown catch in the second half. Rice hauled in a pass over the middle from Flacco and made several defenders grasp air as he burst into the endzone for the score. Rice was also a weapon in the passing game at times and converted a third down through the air on a checkdown pass. Rice ran mostly up the middle and on simple run plays to the left but he turned many simple plays into big chunks on the ground. Rice had several big runs, including a burst up the middle of the defense that was helped by excellent blocking up front.

Week 17 - With Baltimore benching their starters early on, Rice was given three carries (for minimal gains) before being pulled.

Week 18 - While Rice was highly efficient with his 16 touches, he was one of the main reasons the Ravens did not take a commanding lead over the Colts early in the game this week. He bumped into his own offensive lineman on a red zone carry and eventually fumbled on the play. That fumble took at least three points off the board early for the Ravens, who had all the momentum at that point. Later in the first half, Rice had room for more yards on two separate occasions, but was just tripped up before getting to the next level. Before making his big play on a screen pass to setup the Ravens’ first touchdown, Rice dropped a routine outlet target. On the ground, Bernard Pierce had just as much success or more against the overmatched Indianapolis defensive front than Rice. Pierce played quite a bit in the second half and Rice had yet another fumble in the fourth quarter, again in Colts territory. The Colts were unable to take full advantage of Rice’s fumbles and remained in the trail position for over three quarters. That will likely not be the case against Peyton Manning and the Broncos in the next round. Rice will have a much greater challenge against Denver’s active front seven and in pass protection against one of the best pass rushes in the league.

Week 19 - Rice was the sustaining force in the Baltimore offense against Denver. He saw the ball 30 times in the run game, but strangely did not record a reception. For a majority of the first half, Rice found like room to operate. Other than an impressive jump cut to get free on the opening drive, he was stacked up with regularity, including on third-and-short. He did most of his damage in the third quarter. After getting stuffed on his first two carries of the second half, Rice went to work. He got loose on an outside toss on third down, running free down the sideline. After a big hole was created up the middle on another run, Rice juked a safety to get all the way down inside the five-yard-line. After getting Baltimore to the goal line, he was rewarded. Rice got three straight carries and plowed into the end zone on his third attempt, squaring the game at 28-all. Rice did not make an impact again until Baltimore intercepted Peyton Manning as the first overtime period was about to expire, giving the offense the ball around midfield. Rice powered for 11 yards, one of his best runs of the day, to get into range for the eventual game-winning field goal. With Bernard Pierce limping off the field on two occasions in this game, Rice may be in line for another 30+ touches against New England in the AFC championship game next week.

Week 20 - The Ravens' first three offensive plays were designed to go to Rice. He carried the ball up the middle twice for six yards combined, before Joe Flacco missed him in the flat with a swing pass. Rice could have caught the ball, but let it go as the blocking ahead of him had been beaten either way. Rice wasn't getting free with his carries initially, as the Patriots' defense swarmed to the football, but he finally found space after running an out route from the backfield and escaping single coverage for a first down. After a big pass to Torrey Smith, Rice finally found some space up the middle with an eight yard gain through right guard. Three plays later, Rice broke two tackles at the goalline to escape outside left tackle for a touchdown. Rice was contained again to start the third quarter, but on the Ravens' second drive in the half, he turned a broken screen play into a 10+ yard gain with his agility and awareness beating defenders. It was a play that would give San Diego Chargers fans nightmares of that 4th down conversion in the regular season. On first and 10 late in the third quarter, the Ravens lined Rice up as a wide receiver and tried to throw him a screen pass. Unfortunately for Rice, the defense read it and this time he couldn't escape. Rice had a five yard run over left guard that was negated for an accepted defensive penalty, before running for three yards on the next snap with the same call. With the Ravens trying to run out the clock late in the fourth quarter, they turned to Rice. His first carry was stuffed at the line, before he escaped outside left tackle for a nine yard gain. He then showed good patience in the backfield to side-step a defender before burrowing his way forward for a first down. Rice stepped aside for Pollard and Leach to earn the next first down, before coming in again after with his team already celebrating on the sideline.