The Chiefs’ 2026 opener against Denver on Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium comes with plenty of questions attached, and most of them orbit Patrick Mahomes. Can he look like himself again just nine months after season-ending knee surgery?
Can Kansas City keep him upright with Josh Simmons sidelined by a back injury and undrafted rookie free agent Kahlil Benson expected to start at left tackle? Will a defense with major personnel turnover settle in quickly?
And does the addition of free-agent running back and Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III really give the offense the kind of lift that takes pressure off Mahomes, both literally and figuratively?
Those are the big ones. But the most visible variable may be the one Pro Football Focus recently took a shot at, ranking the Chiefs’ receiver group 28th and writing that “the definition of insanity may be trotting out Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce again in hopes that this group finally clicks the way it was supposed to on paper.”
From a distance, the doubt makes sense after the way last season fell apart. Even up close, it’s fair to wonder how this passing game will look with Tyquan Thornton and rookie Cyrus Allen also expected to be part of the mix.
Still, there’s reason to think this group may have more to it than the outside noise suggests.
Kelce, who turns 37 on Oct. 5, looked revived enough last season to regain some burst, and he appears to still have plenty left - along with plenty to prove in what seems likely to be his final season. Worthy, meanwhile, took a clear step back last year, though it’s hard to separate that from the shoulder injury he suffered when he collided with Kelce on the third play of the season.
But the biggest piece of the puzzle is Rice.
His profile has been dragged down by off-field trouble and injuries, and those concerns have made it impossible to ignore the question of whether he can even stay available. That skepticism only grew when he opened camp slowly, a sluggish start that looked tied to the fact that he had not fully rehabbed from offseason cleanup knee surgery after serving a 30-day jail sentence.
That sentence followed a positive THC test, which violated the terms of his probation stemming from his role in a Dallas-area car crash in March 2024 that injured several people.
So the doubts are real. It’s natural to wonder what Rice is about and what the Chiefs can count on from him. For now, he almost has to carry an asterisk until he proves over time that he can deliver on the best ability: availability.
Even so, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy made clear a few weeks ago that he believes Rice’s toughness and resume are real, while also saying there’s a mental piece the receiver has to work through.
“You’ve got to get him to see it from a different point of view,” he said. “And when he can see it from a diff point of view with a set of different eyes, now, it opens up his brain. You can see it resonate.”
Asked Friday about that progress, Bieniemy circled back to the same idea: “Like I said, my whole thing is getting him to …. see it from a different point of view.”
Rice, for his part, smiled and said he values the fact that Bieniemy has shown him plenty of ways to improve.
The football part, though, is not in question. Rice can flat-out play, and he can play a major role in this offense.
He flashed that as a rookie in 2023, catching 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. He also hauled in six catches in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII win over the 49ers and scored against Miami in the AFC Wild Card game.
The Chiefs entered the 2024 season viewing him as the player the offense would run through, with the hope that would also free up Kelce more often. Before Rice suffered a freak season-ending knee injury in a 2024 collision with Mahomes, he had 24 catches for 288 yards in three-plus games.
Now that was nearly two years ago.
Since then, Rice has played only eight games, with 53 catches for 571 yards, after serving a six-game NFL suspension last season and later suffering a concussion late in the year.
That leaves the personal uncertainty and the football upside living side by side. Rice remains difficult to pin down from the outside, and it’s easy to connect that uncertainty to who he’ll ultimately become as a player. But there’s also the connection he has with Mahomes, which Rice called “a natural connection” on Thursday.
That connection matters because the routes Rice does best - slants, intermediate throws and yards after the catch - are the kind this offense needs.
And in a contract year, he has every reason to maximize all of it.
Rice said recently that he has been pushing to get back to 100%, and he also pointed to extra work with Mahomes and Mahomes’ own comeback as if the two have been moving in sync.
“So we’re kind of just seeing ourself get back to our full potential,” he said.
For the Chiefs, that may be the most important thing of all.
In Other News...
Chiefs Broadcast Sparked A Debate ESPN Probably Knew Was Coming
During ESPNs Monday Night Football coverage of the Chiefs-Broncos game, sideline reporter Laura Rutledge explained why Denver defender Jonathon Cooper was not available, noting that he is on the commissioners exempt list after two June arrests tied to domestic violence charges. It was the kind of in-game update that can quickly shift from routine availability news into something much heavier, especially on a stage as visible as a Chiefs game in prime time.
Former Broncos safety Justin Simmons later criticized ESPN for bringing up Coopers legal situation during the broadcast, while others pushed back and said the network was simply giving viewers context for his absence. For Kansas City fans watching an AFC West opponent unfold on the national stage, the episode became part of a broader debate over how broadcasters should handle player controversies when the game itself is still very much in front of them. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Secondary Gets A Timely Reunion With Bigger Implications
The Chiefs added a familiar name to their taxi squad after their Week 1 win, bringing cornerback Melvin Smith Jr. back into the fold. Smith had been on the Titans 53-man roster earlier, but after being waived and going unclaimed, he found his way back to Kansas City, where the team already knows what it is getting in terms of familiarity and fit.
Kansas City has not announced any corresponding roster move to make room for Smith on the practice squad, which leaves a small bit of roster housekeeping still unresolved. Even so, the return of a player with that kind of team context is the sort of quiet transaction that can matter later, especially for a secondary that always has to be ready for attrition over the long haul. [Read more 🡒]
Andy Reid Dug Deep For A Chiefs Touchdown Fans Didn't See Coming
For a Week 1 team still settling into the rhythm of a new season, Andy Reid reached way back to add something fresh to the Kansas City offense. The Chiefs coach put Patrick Mahomes and Justin Fields on the field together in a look few fans would have expected, then turned to a play concept that dates back to the 1930s and was brought back into the conversation by longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. Kansas City studied old film to learn the design, then carried it onto the field and cashed in with a touchdown by Kenneth Walker.
It was the sort of wrinkle Reid can pull when he wants to keep a defense guessing, and it gave the Chiefs another reminder that the playbook does not always have to stay in the present tense. The Heisman look worked in the game, but it also left open a bigger question for opponents: if Kansas City is willing to dust off something this unusual in September, what else might Reid have tucked away for later? [Read more 🡒]