The Ravens on Rice: Durable, doable

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, May 15, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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Ray Rice couldn't have drawn it up any better.

The former Rutgers star, who took only three years to become the school's all-time leading rusher, found himself drafted by exactly the right team in April.

Rice went in the second round to the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he has found himself living in the best of both worlds. With Willis McGahee installed as the featured back, Rice won't be expected to come in and start immediately. But the Ravens cut loose McGahee's primary backups, Musa Smith and Mike Anderson, all but guaranteeing the ex-Scarlet Knight a spot on the foster. Moreover, McGahee has a history of injuries.

"He's a playmaker," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of Rice in a Washington Post interview, "and he's not a one-play playmaker. He's a durable playmaker."

Durable, indeed. Rice is listed at 5-foot-8, 199 pounds, but those numbers are deceiving. Not only does the Long Island native have a torso that appears sculpted from marble, but he carried the ball 910 times as a Scarlet Knight (for 4,928 total yards) and never missed a game because of injury.

Rice has speed (he ran a 4.4 at the NFL Scouting Combine), strength (he distinguished himself among backs with the bench press), quick acceleration and the ability to break tackles. And he can also catch the ball out of the backfield.

What else could be required of an NFL back?

"We like the way he runs," said Ravens' general manager Ozzie Newsome. "He's very low to the ground."

That's one reason the Ravens traded up to get Rice with the 38th overall pick in the second round. Another is that in a world where teams are forced to run criminal background checks on prospects, Rice's character is impeccable. He's stayed out of trouble off the field, and proven himself a team player on it.

"I would love to be a guy who gets in the game and there's not a letup," Rice told the Post.

During the Ravens' recent minicamp, Rice was also tried out as a punt and kickoff returner.
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