Player Comparisons: Ray Rice vs Rashard Mendenhall

Which one of these second-year standout running backs will have a better career?

Both Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall started out the season as their team’s number two RBs, but now they have both taken over as featured backs and are having very solid seasons.

Both players are 22-years-old and were drafted in ‘08. Mendenhall was taken 23rd overall by the Steelers and the Ravens got Rice late in the second round with the 55th pick. Rice could end up being the biggest steal of that draft.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Rice
Rushing

Receiving

As you can see, Rice has become one of the elite fantasy running backs because of his running and catching abilities. He’s had at least 100 yards from scrimmage in nine of the twelve games he’s played in this season and he had a nice five game touchdown streak that ended Week 10. I don’t see Willis McGahee getting his job back any time soon.

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Mendenhall
Rushing

Receiving

Mendenhall is a bit at a dissadvantage in this comparison because he didn’t really start to get the carries until Week 4 (165 yards rushing with 2 TDs in that game) when Willie Parker was injured. Since then, he’s been one of the top rushers in the league.

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Remaining Schedules
Rice – DET, CHI, @PIT, @OAK
Mendenhall – @CLE, GB, BAL, @MIA

Besides the game against the Steelers, Rice faces some pretty bad run defenses. He should finish strong.

Mendenhall has a tougher schedule to finish the season, but he should have a great game this week against the Browns.

Rice is obviously the better fantasy player at this point because he’s used so much in the passing game, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Rashard Mendenhall keeps up with him in the future.

Both players should end up with their first 1000-yard seasons this year, and I expect them to be fantasy producers for years to come.