Kansas City Chiefs rookie WR Rashee Rice is a dark horse candidate, but he could be a possibility with the ambiguity in the receiver room.
Rookie receivers in Andy Reid’s system tend to take a few lumps along the road in their development. The best season of a rookie WR under Reid was DeSean Jackson in 2008. In that season, Jackson had 62 receptions for 912 yards and two touchdowns.
The system has a reputation for being very complex and it takes time for rookies to pick it up and truly understand their responsibilities.
Rice may be a rookie, but he is not your prototypical first-year NFL receiver. He’s 23 years old and played four years in college. Patrick Mahomes has emphasized that Rice appears wise beyond his years against certain types of coverages.
“Obviously, you know he has the explosiveness and the jump ball ability,” Mahomes told reporters during OTAs. “But the way he was able to kind of feel throughout the zone coverages and pull up in the right spot, that’s more of a veteran-type mindset for a receiver, so I’m very excited about that.”
Rice is 6-foot-2 and 203 pounds and possesses the ability to high-point passes and make physical catches with little separation. The front office and coaching staff have emphasized his ability to create yards after the catch, often likening Rice to a running back.
The combination of size and athleticism is why Rice’s ceiling is so high in Kansas City’s offense. The skill set is why he could manage a larger percentage of the snaps as a rookie compared to Skyy Moore a season ago.
Not only did the Chiefs trade up to select Rice in the second round, but Mahomes and Shane Buechele both vouched for the former SMU wideout after an impromptu workout this offseason.
In his final collegiate season, Rice compiled 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns on 96 receptions, skyrocketing his production from his junior season. He did so while playing nine games with a turf toe injury. Recovering from that injury could allow Rice to take his game to another level in Kansas City.
As stated, Rice emerging as the team’s WR1 is an outlier possibility, and rookie receivers tend to have growing pains in Reid’s offense. Fans shouldn’t expect Rice to establish himself this way in his first year in the league, but don’t be surprised should he emerge as the top option rather quickly.