It's been a tough first half of the 2013 season for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, but Rice told the Baltimore Sun he is healthy and hopes to find his groove in the second half of the season.
Ray Rice says he is fully healthy, but it might not matter for fantasy
The Ravens running back hasn’t been able to get it going this season, but says he believes it’s coming. We break down the fantasy implications.
Doug Pensinger
“I don’t have to hesitate to do anything,” Rice told the Sun. “I just want to go out there and let it fly. The next eight games , I’m just trying to go out there and be the best Ray Rice I can be for the next half of the season.”
After averaging between 1,143 and 1,364 rushing yards a year for the last four years, Rice is on pace for less than 600 this year. Rice’s yards per carry sit at 2.7 this season after never falling below 4.0 in any previous season of his career, and he’s on pace for barely 200 carries; his previous career low in a full season is 254.
Fantasy impact: Outside of his two-touchdown, 27-carry performance in Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, Rice is averaging less than 12 carries a game this season. Whether that is because he can't do the job anymore, the offensive line can't block for him, or the team just wants to be an air-assault offense, the truth is that Rice just hasn't had much chance to perform this season, and hasn't done much when he has had the chance.
The Ravens have lost three straight games, and their only win since starting 2-1 is that Week 4 Dolphins game in which Rice had a strong performance, so it’s possible the team will decide it needs to change things up and go more run-heavy the rest of the way, but in general, Rice has been a huge disappointment in 2013, and there’s not much reason to believe he’ll return his first-round value.
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