Sidney Rice: Assessing the Week 4 Fantasy Status of Seahawks WR

Back in 2009, Sidney Rice developed some street cred with a breakout season that saw him play in the Pro Bowl for the Vikings.

Things weren’t quite as rosy for him in 2010, after which he left the Vikings, so now might be just the right time to plug the Seattle wide receiver into the fantasy lineup.

Rice, 6-foot-4 and seemingly blessed with the ability to catch anything that comes near him, caught eight passes in Week 3, his first action for Seattle after the Seahawks spent big money to sign him this off-season.

Such was the faith of coach Pete Carroll and the Seahawks’ front office that the lavished a five-year, $41 million contract on him. Still, he was mostly an unknown part of the Seattle offense until last week’s breakout. He’d suffered a shoulder injury in training camp that forced him to miss the first two regular season games.

But the injury is behind him, and fantasy owners should take notice. New Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson hasn’t come up with a go-to receiver just yet, but after his performance against the Arizona, the 25-year-old Rice could just be that guy.

Jackson and Rice were teammates with the Vikings, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that Jackson was willing to go to Rice, who had the Seahawks, two longest pass plays en route to 109 yards last week.

While he’s unsure of just how much pass protection he’s going to get, Jackson seems prone to getting rid of the ball quickly. And who better to throw it to than Rice, who was the target of Jackson throws 10 times last week. No other receiver was a target more than four times, so this could be a pattern worth exploiting.