Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (hip) is expected to practice on Wednesday according to the Baltimore Sun's Jacob Zrebiec. Rice did not play in the Ravens' 30-9 Week 3 win over the Houston Texans.
Ray Rice plans to practice Wednesday, encouraging for fantasy owners
The Ravens’ running back missed the team’s Week 3 game against the Texans but is making progress. We discuss the fantasy implications.
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Fantasy Impact: knowing that Ray Rice is going to practice is good news for fantasy owners, as hip injuries can sometimes keep a running back out for a while. At the same time, Rice's teammate Bernard Pierce was getting just as many carries as the Ravens' starter even before he went down with an injury.
In Sunday’s win over the Texans, Pierce managed to rush for 65 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Although he rushed for only 2.7 yards a carry and it’s nothing to write home about, Rice’s average of 2.8 yards a carry is not significantly better.
Overall, it seems like the days of one running back doing all the work in Baltimore are over. Fantasy owners should realistically view both Rice and Pierce as potential starting running backs on their roster. Neither one is really going to get to 20 carries in a game if both players are in the lineup and both have failed to do anything particularly stellar on the ground thus far.
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