Could Ray Rice be this years Chris Johnson? (1 Viewer)

[Louisville Slugger]

Is it just me or is there real similarities between the Rice/McHagee combo of 2010 and the C.Johnson/Lendale White combo of 2009. Rice and Johnson are both elite runners (Rice 5.3 ypc, Johnson 5.6 ypg) who catch a ton of balls out of the backfield. White White and McGahee are little more than vulture's who fall into the endzone after the teams lead back brought them all the way down field.

Coming into 2009 most people felt Chris Johnson was an explosive runner who had elite potential, but would be limited by the presence of the far less talented goal line vulture Lendale White. As the season wore on it became apparent that White was going to be less and less of a factor. With White limited to a few carries a game Chris Johnson had one of the best seasons in the history of fantasy football. Could the same thing happen this year with Rice and McGahee?

What are the odds of McGahee getting 12 td's this season? If Rice could raise his td level from 8 to 12 he could jump into the Chris Johnson/Adrian Peterson level of rb.

Are there any Ravens homers out there who could see Mcgahee's role being reduced near the goal line? How many td's do you project for Ray Rice in this improving offense?

 

[DBomb]

In my opinion, if McGahee is on the team, there would be absolutely no reason to not give him the ball on the goal line. He is very effective as a goal line runner and it reduces the amount of hits Rice will take throughout the course or a full season.

 

[Phlash]

In my opinion, if McGahee is on the team, there would be absolutely no reason to not give him the ball on the goal line. He is very effective as a goal line runner and it reduces the amount of hits Rice will take throughout the course or a full season.

:this:McGahee still has legs.

 

[MyStonyBaby]

I think Rice is top 3 RB this year.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Question: Considering Bolden's being brought on, do Ravens WR's as a group get more touches as a group this year vs. last year, less or about the same?

I think they get MORE, and I think those touches will come from Rice.

I'm a big fan of Rice from Rutgers times, but the McGahee strategy worked for keeping Rice fresh and I don't see why they would deviate from that.

There will be more downfield throws and less rushing% and scrimmage/short passing. I just don't see how that doesn't come out of Rice's totals.

Chris Johnson played for a run, run, run-all-the-time team last year that had few passing options.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

What is the deal with McGahee though? Is he hurt? A malcontent?

 

[Thumper]

What is the deal with McGahee though? Is he hurt? A malcontent?

I don't think he is hurt. The reports of him missing practice were false.

 

[gandalas]

No.

Have you seen the Titan's offense? Johnson IS their offense.

On the Ravens, you have 2 veteran 90+reception players split out wide now, plus a speedy WR3 in Stallworth. Not to mention Heap, who has done well in his career.

The Ravens actually have the tools to achieve pass/run balance, unlike Tennessee. However, as a result Rice should not have stats as impressive as Johnson's.

 

[T.Rex]

No, but Finley could.

 

[WiDDoW_MaKeR]

Ray Rice will end up being like last year's Ray Rice. Maybe get a bit more work in the run game... and a bit less work in the passing game.

 

[Modog814]

Is it just me or is there real similarities between the Rice/McHagee combo of 2010 and the C.Johnson/Lendale White combo of 2009. Rice and Johnson are both elite runners (Rice 5.3 ypc, Johnson 5.6 ypg) who catch a ton of balls out of the backfield. White White and McGahee are little more than vulture's who fall into the endzone after the teams lead back brought them all the way down field.

Coming into 2009 most people felt Chris Johnson was an explosive runner who had elite potential, but would be limited by the presence of the far less talented goal line vulture Lendale White. As the season wore on it became apparent that White was going to be less and less of a factor. With White limited to a few carries a game Chris Johnson had one of the best seasons in the history of fantasy football. Could the same thing happen this year with Rice and McGahee?

What are the odds of McGahee getting 12 td's this season? If Rice could raise his td level from 8 to 12 he could jump into the Chris Johnson/Adrian Peterson level of rb.

Are there any Ravens homers out there who could see Mcgahee's role being reduced near the goal line? How many td's do you project for Ray Rice in this improving offense?

I think the bolded is where your logic fails. I agree that White was nothing more than a large body who could fall into the endzone, but I believe McGahee has a lot more talent than that. In fact, should Rice get hurt, I think McGahee could step in and put up pretty good numbers. Enough at least to keep the offense from completely falling apart, which would be what happened if Johnson had gotten hurt.

 

[LittlePhatty]

With White limited to a few carries a game Chris Johnson had one of the best seasons in the history of fantasy football. Could the same thing happen this year with Rice and McGahee?

The situation is a bit different, and here's what I've said in other threads:White was still the goal-line guy for about the first 6 games last year. He got a handful of chances and it was still pretty clear that the Titans planned to use him that way. But there are two reasons why he ended up being a non-factor:1) The Titans sucked for most of the first half of the season. Fewer red zone plays = fewer touches for White.2) Chris Johnson scored on really long runs. Again, fewer red zone plays = fewer touches for White.I don't think they truly changed their game plan with White until they put Vince Young in at QB. Vince is a threat to run himself, so they started keeping CJ in more at the goal line as an outside option for Vince to dump off to. LenDale certainly isn't an outside threat, so CJ compliments this plan better.The Ravens offense will be good this year, meaning more opportunities and more scores to spread around. Rice is a break-the-tackles for another 10 or 15 yards kind of guy. He's a stud, but the Ravens will need to spell him more often than what the Titans/CJ situation called for last year. And also, we can't ignore the fact that McGahee is just flat out much better than LenDale White.

 

[Happy Ragnarok]

I think the Ravens aspire to be more than simply a talent showcase for their best player. I think they spent their offseason and their dollars making sure they were balanced enough that they wouldn't have to face a season anything like the Titans faced last year.

If Ray Rice is this year's Chris Johnson, the Ravens' whole organizational direction will have failed.

 

[everydayj]

In my opinion, if McGahee is on the team, there would be absolutely no reason to not give him the ball on the goal line. He is very effective as a goal line runner and it reduces the amount of hits Rice will take throughout the course or a full season.

Wasn't the exact same thing said about LenDale White and his role in the Titans offense? I admit that I'm playing devil's advocate here as I believe that Willis McGahee is a superior player than White, but LenDale White had a rather impressive season TD-wise just one season before CJ's breakout.

 

[LittlePhatty]

Wasn't the exact same thing said about LenDale White and his role in the Titans offense?

See what I wrote above.LenDale's demise was purely situational, and I don't think the Ravens will have that same situation.The Ravens will have more red zone plays, more offensive plays in general, and fewer 91-yard TD runs.

 

[thehornet]

I think the Ravens aspire to be more than simply a talent showcase for their best player. I think they spent their offseason and their dollars making sure they were balanced enough that they wouldn't have to face a season anything like the Titans faced last year.

If Ray Rice is this year's Chris Johnson, the Ravens' whole organizational direction will have failed.

makes no sense. the titans are trying to win football games just like every other team. they aren't trying to supply you with cool espn highlights.

 

[rizzler]

I think the Ravens aspire to be more than simply a talent showcase for their best player. I think they spent their offseason and their dollars making sure they were balanced enough that they wouldn't have to face a season anything like the Titans faced last year.

If Ray Rice is this year's Chris Johnson, the Ravens' whole organizational direction will have failed.

makes no sense. the titans are trying to win football games just like every other team. they aren't trying to supply you with cool espn highlights.

no but they did try to supply CJ2K with those 2000yds

 

[thehornet]

I think the Ravens aspire to be more than simply a talent showcase for their best player. I think they spent their offseason and their dollars making sure they were balanced enough that they wouldn't have to face a season anything like the Titans faced last year.

If Ray Rice is this year's Chris Johnson, the Ravens' whole organizational direction will have failed.

makes no sense. the titans are trying to win football games just like every other team. they aren't trying to supply you with cool espn highlights.

no but they did try to supply CJ2K with those 2000yds

obv. but they did it because it was also the best way for them to win. besides a few moments here and there when young's head is in the game, CJ is all they have on O.

 

[meatwad1]

Question: Considering Bolden's being brought on, do Ravens WR's as a group get more touches as a group this year vs. last year, less or about the same?I think they get MORE, and I think those touches will come from Rice.I'm a big fan of Rice from Rutgers times, but the McGahee strategy worked for keeping Rice fresh and I don't see why they would deviate from that. There will be more downfield throws and less rushing% and scrimmage/short passing. I just don't see how that doesn't come out of Rice's totals.Chris Johnson played for a run, run, run-all-the-time team last year that had few passing options.

Your logic ignores that fact that if the wrs are moving the chains there are going to be many more plays plus more scoring and yardage to be had. As far as keeping him fresh, why do any stud rbs get the lions share of carries? Simply because they give the team a better chance of making something good happen. McGahee, like clockwork, is already banged up and is unlikely to have lightning stike twice with all of those tds with so few carries. As a matter of fact, every year there are a couple guys who emerge as major td scorers, with very little yardage...it seems to me that those guys change every year...last year it was McGahee, the year before it was LenDale, and the year before that it was Marion Barber, this year will probably be someone nobody has thought of.

 

[rowmacks]

Question: Considering Bolden's being brought on, do Ravens WR's as a group get more touches as a group this year vs. last year, less or about the same?

I think they get MORE, and I think those touches will come from Rice.

I'm a big fan of Rice from Rutgers times, but the McGahee strategy worked for keeping Rice fresh and I don't see why they would deviate from that.

There will be more downfield throws and less rushing% and scrimmage/short passing. I just don't see how that doesn't come out of Rice's totals.

Chris Johnson played for a run, run, run-all-the-time team last year that had few passing options.

Your logic ignores that fact that if the wrs are moving the chains there are going to be many more plays plus more scoring and yardage to be had. As far as keeping him fresh, why do any stud rbs get the lions share of carries? Simply because they give the team a better chance of making something good happen. McGahee, like clockwork, is already banged up and is unlikely to have lightning stike twice with all of those tds with so few carries. As a matter of fact, every year there are a couple guys who emerge as major td scorers, with very little yardage...it seems to me that those guys change every year...last year it was McGahee, the year before it was LenDale, and the year before that it was Marion Barber, this year will probably be someone nobody has thought of.

Mike Tolbert.

 

[LittlePhatty]

no but they did try to supply CJ2K with those 2000yds

Maybe in the last game or two, but do you really think they started out the year with that "plan"? Hell no. That's not the way it works.Things could have gone very differently, but CJ created his own "perfect storm" situation early on.Take Week 2 against the Texans. CJ had 3 TDs, all of which were from 50+ yards out. That will keep your short-yardage guy on the bench all day long.The Ravens will not have that "problem". If McGahee is on the roster, he will get opportunities. I still like Rice as a Top 5 back this season, but he's not going to be the only Raven scoring points.