Simeon Rice

Our preseason outlook on Rice started "Simeon Rice, you are the world’s most consistent sack artist ..." Rice has proven to be far less than that as the 2006 season started, as he recorded just two sacks over the first eight games of the year.

Rice is a sacking force of nature. He has recorded double-digit sacks for four years running and in seven of his nine seasons as a pro. He’s also piled up 15-plus sacks in three separate seasons, including two in a row in 2002 and 2003. Last year was something of a down year, though. After two years ranking second among linemen, he dipped to 18th when his tackle numbers dropped from the mid-40s to the mid-30s and the sacks stepped down to 12. Finally, he didn’t have the points from interceptions he did in the previous two years, and in leagues that count them, slimmed his forced fumble and pass defend numbers. At 31, is it reasonable to expect him to push all of those numbers back up? His 2004 was still nowhere near career lows, though they were somewhat at the bottom for what he’s done since coming to Tampa Bay from Arizona. Just by sustaining his career levels in sacks and tackles, Rice rebounds to the elite, and we’re not going to bet against him.

Rice loses a defensive tackle, now that Warren Sapp is in Oakland, but the emergence of Anthony McFarland, and the ability of Ellis Wyms to replace a declining Sapp, places Rice in the clear. He was downright obscene in the first half of last year, recording eight sacks, three forced fumbles, two interceptions and four passes defended on his way to a career high 45 solo stops, 15 sacks, six forced fumbles, two picks and eight passes defended on the season. With two straight years of 40-plus solo tackles and 15-plus sacks, the only reason we don't have him over Strahan is that you can't rely on him to pick off passes every year. He's done it in each of the past two seasons, and has shown his supreme athleticism by numbering at least eight passes defended in each of his three years in Tampa Bay; however, banking on picks is iffy enough with defensive backs, not to mention linemen.

Rice, who had 11 sacks in 2001 and 15.5 last year, is as much of a lock as anyone for another 10 quarterback flattenings this season. Rice also had 41 solo tackles a year ago, which isn't bad from the end position, but that hasn't been his forte over the course of his career. DTs Warren Sapp and Anthony McFarland should continue to make it hard for teams to double team Rice consistently in 2003.