Minnesota Vikings Fans Enjoying the Evolution of Sidney Rice

Coming out of South Carolina, Sidney Rice was highly regarded as a top-notch wide receiver prospect.  

Racking up 142 catches, 2,233 yards, and 23 touchdowns in his freshman and sophomore years under Steve Spurrier and standing 6'4", many thought the Minnesota Vikings got a steal when they selected him in the second round (44th overall) in the 2007 NFL Draft.

After catching just 46 passes for 537 yards in his first two seasons, it looked like all those people were wrong, but after a breakout 2009 and an eye-opening, three-touchdown performance in the Vikings' 34-3 divisional round beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Rice may finally be living up to his billing.

Ironically, it seems all the 23-year-old receiver needed was a jumpstart from his 40-year-old quarterback.  

Looking back, Rice's lack of production in his first two seasons could have more to do with the fearsome foursome of quarterbacks trotted out by the Vikings (Tarvaris Jackson, Kelly Holcomb, Gus Frerotte, and Brooks Bollinger) than Rice's talent itself.

But with Brett Favre in tow for the '09 season, Rice broke out and became one of Minnesota's best options, finishing the year with 83 catches for 1,312 yards (good for fourth in the NFL) and eight touchdowns.

Rice's breakout began in Week Four, as the Vikings faced Favre's former team, the Packers, in what became the most-watched television program in cable history.

Sidney logged five catches for 70 yards in the game and also scored his first touchdown of the season, as the Vikings won 30-23 and emerged as a true Super Bowl contender in the NFC.

The breakout season for Rice hit its peak in the middle of the season as over a four-game span (with the Vikes bye week in the middle), Rice racked up 27 receptions and 553 yards, including a seven-catch, 201-yard performance in a win over the Detroit Lions.

While it's clear that Rice's emergence has plenty to do with Brett Favre's first year in the Twin Cities, he also has Adrian Peterson and the threat of the Vikings' running game to thank, as well.  

After Peterson led the NFL in 2008 with 1,760 rushing yards, defenses were forced to stack the box against Minnesota, leaving one-on-one coverage for Rice and Bernard Berrian, which Rice is able to win quite often given his 6'4" stature and willingness to go after every ball thrown his way.

Rice's one-on-one ability was clear Sunday, as Rice's two long touchdowns were both caught against one defender after Favre recognized the coverage and trusted his wideout to win the battle.  

The middle touchdown for Rice in Sunday's game displayed another quality of Rice's game that goes underappreciated—his blocking ability.  

Rice started the play split to the right side of Favre and came in motion as the ball was snapped. On the play, Rice's assignment was to block the Cowboys' pass-rusher extraordinaire DeMarcus Ware, which he succeeded at, going to the ground to knock Ware over and give his quarterback some extra time to rollout and complete the pass.

That Rice was able to render Ware useless on the play speaks to his unnoticed blocking ability, but the second part of the play was even more impressive, as Rice quickly noticed Favre was in trouble and scrambled to his feet.

As Favre eluded Cowboys' defensive end Marcus Spears, Rice put his hands up in the middle of the field and Favre delivered him the ball, which Rice took into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

The desire and smarts it takes to go from blocking the best pass rusher in the NFL to catching a touchdown pass in the same play are immeasurable, but it is clear that Rice possesses these attributes.

Whether or not Favre comes back for 2010 for the Vikings will clearly affect Rice's future, but 2009 has shown us that Rice can be a quality No. 1 receiver in the NFL. 

But before we get to next season, Rice has a chance to continue his breakout '09 in style next weekend, as the Vikings take on the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game.

He may have seemed like a lost cause in his first two seasons, but the Saints better be aware of No. 18 on Sunday.

Especially if they see him blocking.