Ravens Legends Bracket: Justin Tucker vs. Ray Rice

Our second round of the Legend Bracket series features Justin Tucker and Ray Rice

Here we are in the second round of our Ravens Legends Bracket series. As we’ve already seen in our first matchup of the second round, the decisions are much harder now. The more obvious ones have been decided and now the real fun begins.

For this matchup, we take a look to Ravens: a current a former one. Justin Tucker has not only been a primary offense weapon for the Ravens, but also arguably the best kicker in the NFL. Ray Rice had quite the career with the Ravens, providing a consistent ground game for a number of years.

Why Justin Tucker made it to round 2

Justin Tucker still had a long career ahead of him, but he’s already solidified himself as a Raven great. At a position like kicker, it can be hard to do that. The position does not have the same kind of presence that a Ray Lewis had at linebacker or Jamal Lewis had at running back. But even so, Tucker has become one of the best players on the Ravens, not just on special teams.

Last season was a career year for Tucker. He finished the season 38/39 on field goal attempts and perfect on extra points, with the only miss coming from a block. The block was not his fault so I say he basically went perfect for the year. That is incredible if you compare it to the rest of the kickers last season. The NFL has tried to change rules to make the kicking game more non-existent, but Justin Tucker hasn’t let that stop him. In just five seasons, he currently sits as the most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Why Ray Rice made it to round 2

The Ravens found a great player in Joe Flacco in the 2008 draft, but they also found a great running back in Ray Rice.  Aside from his first and last year with the Ravens, Rice rushed for four straight 1,000 yard seasons. This success in the run game was also the key to the development of a young Joe Flacco. It gave him more weapons and allowed him to not be so dependent on the pass.

Rice also was a key factor during the early playoff runs in the Harbaugh era. In a Wild Card playoff game against the Patriots, Rice scored an 83-yard rushing touchdown on the first offensive play of the game. How can we also forget the 4th and 29 he converted in the 2012 regular season against the Chargers? That play will go down as one of the greatest Ravens plays ever.

Since Rice, the Ravens run game has struggled. They have only had one 1,000 yard rusher since. It was Justin Forsett in 2014 and he has recently retired from the NFL. This shows the kind of impact that Rice had on the ground for the Ravens. Hopefully they kind find consistency with Dixon and West this season, but both are not the home run hitters that Rice used to be.

Winner: Justin Tucker

It was a very close decision between the staff here at Ebony Bird. Justin Tucker narrowly advanced on a 4-3 vote. To be honest, you can’t go wrong with either one here, but Tucker advances on. He’s been the primary scoring option at times when the offense hasn’t been able to produce.

Next: Baltimore Ravens: 5 Post NFL Draft Position Battles

For Rice, it’s tough because right now he will go down as the second best back in franchise history behind Jamal Lewis. If it were not for the domestic violence charges that led to his dismissal from the team, you have to think Rice could have had a couple good years left in him. But in that situation, all we can do is speculate. Tucker has a long career ahead of him and is already on pace to become a Hall-of-Famer.