MASNsports.com is your online home for the latest Orioles and Nationals news, features, and commentary. And now, you can connect with MASN on every digital level. From web and social media to our new mobile alert service, MASN has got all the bases covered.
Get the latest breaking news direct to your phone with our mobile texting service.
Ray Rice might be one of the shorter running backs in the NFL, but his size doesn't stop him from running through would-be tacklers.
Need a reminder? Check out these two clips here and here.
Having watched Rice over the last two seasons, we all know that the 5-8, 210 pound back has the ability to avoid defenders, even when it seems like he's wrapped up and down for the count.
But I don't think I realized just how good at breaking tackles Rice truly is until I saw a stat provided by SI.com's Peter King this morning.
In King's Monday Morning QB column (which is always a fantastic read), he points out via the guys at FootballOutsiders.com that Rice ranked second in the league in broken tackles last year, with 57.
Football Outsiders defines a broken tackle as a play in which the defender has the ballcarrier wrapped up, or a play where the ballcarrier fakes out the defender and leaves him in the dust.
Not surprisingly, the only running back with more shed tackles was the guy who led the league in rushing, Chris Johnson of the Titans. Johnson had 61 broken tackles.
The Vikings' Adrian Peterson ranked third, with 56.
Both Johnson (5-11, 200) and Peterson (6-1, 217) are a good bit taller than Rice, which you might think would make them tougher to bring down.
In reality, guys like Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew (who ranked fourth on the list) who are shorter and still have good bulk might be more difficult to tackle because they force larger defenders to come down to their level to wrap them up.
Regardless, Rice has shown that he's one of the more dangerous backfield options around the league, and this stat only enforces that fact.
