Is Bernard Pierce a legitimate threat to Ray Rice's statistical production?
Last season Pierce saw more than 30 percent of the snaps in a game just twice over 20 matchups, and one of them was in a meaningless Week 17 game at Cincinnati where Rice played a handful of reps. But both of those came with Jim Caldwell as the Ravens' offensive coordinator. In addition to that data acquired via ProFootballFocus.com, Pierce played between 20 and 30 percent of the snaps three times under Caldwell and less than 20 percent of the time twice under Caldwell. It's especially worth noting Pierce played nearly 30 percent of the time in both the AFC title game and Super Bowl XLVII.
But even if Pierce snatches enough to leave Rice with just about 70 percent of the workload on a weekly basis, it doesn't mean the superstar is going to stink. In five games last season where Rice had 70.3 percent of the snaps or fewer (throwing out that meaningless Week 17 game), he averaged 15.0 Fantasy points per (standard scoring) and delivered at least 10 Fantasy points every single time. In the 14 games where he played more often than 70.3 percent he averaged less -- barely -- with 13.4 Fantasy points per game including nine contests with at least 10 Fantasy points. Either way, Rice delivered.
That suggests Rice can withstand losing 30 percent of the work and still be a very effective Fantasy rusher. Let's not forget that Rice is the more elusive back of the two and has been productive and consistent year after year; the Ravens have no reason to relax his reps (he had 341 carries including the postseason). I could see his stats dipping a smidge if he's not playing quite as much, but he's still a capable No. 1 Fantasy running back. Pierce is a dynamite handcuff and reserve running back worth eyeballing in Round 9.