10 Reasons Why Ray Rice Represents Value in 2014 Fantasy Football Leagues
Byron Lambert, Rosterwatch.com

We have no bias towards or against Ray Rice. Certainly, we aren’t happy that he knocked his fiancee out cold in a casino elevator this offseason. However, we are always in search of fantasy football value – at just about any expense. It’s what lead us down this wooly little rabbit hole, and we liked what we saw when we came out the other end.

1. It’s been well documented that Ray Rice went in to the 2013 season out of shape, with subpar conditioning. He also played injured for most of the season, primarily with a hip issue. This could explain some of the decline in production we saw last year. The coaches were tough on Rice in their post-season meetings. He is already being lauded for coming into this offseason’s activities healthy, and in peak condition.

2. His running style is a perfect fit in new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme. Rice has an ideally low center of gravity for the outside zone stretch play (think of the opposite of Darren McFadden in ZBS). He’s a patient runner with good first step quickness. His small stature will make him hard for defenders to find behind a moving wall of blockers. Once he finds the seam, he’ll surprise defenders as he unexpectedly pops through.

3. Historically, Ray Rice is a lock for 60 receptions, with upside for 80- which is a great buffer in PPR formats (Per 16 games, he’s topped 60 rec the last 5 seasons). Gary Kubiak has a history of calling passing plays to his running backs. When healthy, Arian Foster was consistently a threat for 40-60 receptions per season. Rice is an even better receiver than Foster, and will get plenty of opportunities in the passing game.

4. Prior to last season, Ray Rice was one of the few players in the league that was consistently a threat for 2,000 total yards. Guys like Matt Forte, and LeSean Mccoy are a few of the other notable runners that fall into that category.

5. Speaking of LeSean McCoy and Matt Forte, two players that are consistently being selected in the first round of fantasy drafts – McCoy will be 26 in his 6th year when the season starts, and Forte is 28 and heading into his 7th season. Ray Rice is 27 years old going into year 7.

6. Ray Rice and LeSean McCoy had identical fantasy careers for three years from 2010 through 2012. Last year, McCoy served a reminder that offensive systems makes a huge difference. See #2 above – we love the new system for Rice.

7. Why draft Arian Foster at the end of the 3rd round, when you can have Ray Rice in the 6th or 7th?

8. There is NO legitimate competition in Baltimore. Bernard Pierce is a plodding, completely non-elusive runner. Lorenzo Taliefero is a JAG who is already getting DWIs.

9. Rice has only missed four games in his career, three of those were during his rookie season. He’s generally been durable and reliable, scoring double digit fantasy points about 3 out of every 4 games.

10. He’s still the Ravens best offensive weapon. Yes, better than Torrey Smith, Dennis Pitta, Marlon Brown, or Steve Smith. Although we do really like rookie tight end Crockett Gilmore – just not more than Rice.