In his continuing ranking of NFL players by positions, NFL.com's Pat Kirwan has been grouping players into three categories in comparison to the other players at the same position. In stories posted on Football News Now, Kirwan has so far put Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco and Todd Heap in the "C" groups of their positions. Today he tackles the running backs, including the Ravens' Ray Rice.
While Kirwan definitely likes Rice's abilities, he does not consider him an "elite" running back, and therefore misses out on being placed with the "A" grouping. Rice was placed in the "B" group, along with Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles, Steven Jackson from the St. Louis Rams, Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy and Oakland’s Darren McFadden.
The "A" group is made up of the best in the league and while I might not put Rice alongside of the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson and Tennessee Titans' Chris Johnson, he should be in the same group as the Jacksonville Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew, as they are both extremely similar players in size and abilities. Other players in the "A" group include Houston’s Arian Foster and Atlanta’s Michael Turner.
At east Kirwan gives a shred of dignity to Ravens fans by ranking ice ahead of the "C" group of players, who are
Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson, Ahmad Bradshaw from the New York Giants, Chicago’s Matt Forte, San Francisco’s Frank Gore, Cleveland’s Peyton Hillis and Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams.