| Other Running Backs | Boyd, Cory
Brown, Thomas
Charles, Jammal
Choice, Tashard
Forte, Matt
Hart, Mike
Johnson, Chris
Jones, Felix
McFadden, Darren
Mendenhall, Rashard
Omon, Xavier
Patrick, Allen
Rice, Ray
Slaton, Steve
Smith, Kevin
Stewart, Jonathan
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| | Player Profile | Ray Rice - Running Back
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 205 lbs.
Birthday: January 22nd 1987
College: Rutgers, Junior
High School: New Rochelle H.S.
Birthplace: New Rochelle, NY
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| College Scouting Report | Rice is one of those guys that everyone roots for and genuinely seems to like, one of those rare prospects where everyone focuses almost exclusively on the positives. But the film does not lie—Rice has some major flaws that are going to hinder his NFL ability. He’s short, but that’s not the issue. Watch him come to an almost complete stop when he changes direction, or how his legs straighten and his feet stop moving when he gets hit. Because he’s not a blazer and prefers to run inside, at the NFL level Rice has to bounce off those hits or run through them. Unlike Mike Hart, Rice is not much of a pass blocker and hasn’t shown great hands (that doesn’t mean he lacks them, it means he hasn’t been asked to use them). In short, he’s an undersized power back who doesn’t run with a lot of fundamental toughness or lateral shiftiness. In my eyes he is not demonstrably better (in part considering his vastly superior OL) than either Xavier Omon or Kalvin McRae, both of whom will be lucky to hear their names called, yet Rice could go as high as the mid 2nd round.
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| Strengths | He is an elusive, shifty runner with great balance; very small (5’8”) but has good power and can take a hit; naturally slippery runner who can make the first guy miss; durable with a good nose for the end zone; needs a lead blocker but follows his blocks very well and makes strong cuts off them.
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| Weaknesses | He doesn’t have blazing speed (4.52) or instant acceleration typical of smaller backs who make it although he does have an extra gear when being chased; not used much as a receiver, had more dropped passes (11) than catches (9) his first two seasons; stops/starts far too often in traffic and does not always keep his feet moving; lousy blocker who too often lets blitzers run right past him.
- Jeff Risdon
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