Rashee Rice is back making plays for the Chiefs, and that alone has changed the feel of Kansas City’s offense.
A few months ago, Rice was still rehabbing a knee injury while sitting in a jail cell. After appearing in only 12 games over a two-year span, it was fair to wonder whether the burst he flashed as a rookie would ever fully return. Early this season, though, he’s started to answer that question with his legs and his hands.
Rice has stacked back-to-back games with more than 80 receiving yards, including a lively outing against the Miami Dolphins that looked a lot like the version of him Chiefs fans remember. For a player who didn’t really get a normal offseason, that kind of start matters.
Over the last two games, Rice has totaled 171 receiving yards on 11 catches. More importantly, the explosiveness is showing up again once the ball is in his hands. He is averaging 9.15 yards after the catch per reception, which ranks second in the league among receivers with at least 15 targets.
The usage tells its own story. Kansas City is keeping him close to the line of scrimmage, and nearly all of his targets have come within ten yards. He still doesn’t have a target beyond 20 yards downfield this season.
That hasn’t stopped him from being highly effective in the right situations. Rice has been especially sharp against zone coverage, just as he was as a rookie. Ten of his 13 catches and 142 of his 190 yards have come against zone looks.
The catch, of course, is that this surge has come against two defenses that have struggled badly early on. Rice’s breakout games came against the Colts and Dolphins, both of whom rank in the NFL’s bottom five in EPA allowed per pass and passing success rate. Miami, in particular, has allowed a completion rate of 80.3%, which has made life easy for opposing quarterbacks.
That’s why the next stretch matters. Kansas City is about to see much tougher defenses, including the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
Rice is not the classic outside WR1 the Chiefs still need, and the source of that concern hasn’t changed. His issues against man coverage will be tested more harshly, especially against teams like Denver.
Still, within the role he’s playing right now, there’s real reason to believe this can hold. Rice remains one of the most explosive players in the league with the ball in his hands, and the fact that he’s doing it coming off a major injury only adds to the story. If he stays on the field, a return to the numbers he posted as a rookie is well within reach.
For now, the bottom line is simple: Rice’s resurgence is real, and it’s giving the Chiefs offense a better chance to look like its best self.
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