Chiefs WR Rashee Rice motivated to proceed elite play

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Marquise Brown out with an harm and Travis Kelce off to a sluggish begin, the Kansas City Chiefs wanted extensive receiver Rashee Rice to be higher than he was as a rookie final season.

By means of three video games, he has delivered. Rice is third within the NFL in catches (24) and fourth in yards (288) and the 3-0 Chiefs don’t have any stronger candidate to be their early-season MVP.

“He is an entire receiver,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes mentioned. “He is getting higher and higher and he can do all of it. I feel folks see the brief stuff and so they get enamored by it as a result of it is so particular when he catches the ball, however he can catch the ball down the sector, he can block, he can do no matter — every thing it takes to be a very good receiver on this league.”

Rice’s breakout season comes as he awaits trial on eight charges after allegedly inflicting a excessive velocity crash in Dallas. He’s going through one depend of aggravated assault, one depend of collision involving critical bodily harm and 6 counts of collision involving harm in reference to a crash on a Dallas freeway in March wherein he was touring as quick as 119 miles per hour, in keeping with police. He’s additionally being sued by two individuals who say they have been injured within the crash.

For a lot of the offseason, Rice’s probabilities of enjoying a full season did not look good. However the NFL has but to intervene with a suspension.

Rice mentioned with the ability to play has been a bonus. And on the soccer area, he has develop into Mahomes’ prime goal.

“It feels nice,” Rice mentioned of the main target being on soccer. “I hope it begins in observe. It begins on Tuesday, first day of observe. Even within the assembly room, simply take every thing severely. Do not get too snug.”

Rice has benefitted from how opponents have opted to cowl the Chiefs, which is to respect the deep velocity of rookie receiver Xavier Worthy and the beneath capacity of Kelce.

“You have seen that he is been extra versatile this yr,” Mahomes mentioned. “He is ready to run increasingly routes after which the best way he is in a position to catch the ball and make stuff occur after the catch, he’s a tough man to sort out. And so with the ability to do each these issues, I feel it helps that the velocity out there’s form of serving to unfold out the sector for him after which there’s loads of consideration on Travis.”

His numbers will seemingly degree off when defenses modify their protection, which appears inevitable.

Within the meantime, Rice has two 100-yard video games and 3 times as many catches as Kelce, the Chiefs’ second-leading receiver.

He had two 100-yard video games final yr within the common season and one other within the playoffs.

“I am not going to say precisely after I really feel like I will get the ball,” Rice mentioned. “However there are specific seems to be the place I do know {that a} linebacker might keep within Trav and a nickel or a security performs excessive of Trav, which is able to simply go away the center of the sector open for me one-on-one with nickel or every other defender on the market.

“I am having much more enjoyable, and we have got loads of guys on the sector which might be. … Trav taking eyes off but additionally [Worthy], and we have got loads of weapons on the sector, so it is much more enjoyable that approach.”

The Chiefs favored Rice sufficient to draft him within the second spherical final yr. They believed his capacity to run after the catch and break tackles in school at SMU would translate to the NFL, and it has. As a rookie, Rice caught loads of display passes to attempt to reap the benefits of coverages. He completed the 2023 season with 938 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns on 79 receptions.

“He is a very good, constant catcher, works himself up area and is hard and performs bodily,” coach Andy Reid mentioned. “On the identical time, he is a prepared blocker, will get in there and blend it up there, so he is actually creating his entire sport in all areas. He’ll hold rolling but it surely’s a much smaller margin than what he needed to develop from the start right here final yr.”

The Chiefs are getting extra from Rice this season. His air yards per goal have elevated from 4.85 final yr to five.03 this season. That is removed from main the league however nonetheless a sign the Chiefs are getting the ball to him in methods apart from screens and fast slants.

His longest play of the season is a 44-yard landing cross deep down the left sideline in a Week 2 sport in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“The route operating, the understanding the best way to get open in zones,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy mentioned when requested how Rice has improved over final season. “He is actually good in man [coverage]. He is bodily. Everyone knows what he can do after he catches the ball. He is violent, he likes to get hit. That is uncommon generally on the extensive receiver place.”

The Chiefs play on the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) and Rice hopes to proceed his trajectory.

“I might say simply getting a wake-up name,” Rice mentioned when requested about his motivation to enhance over his rookie season. “Having the ability to come out right here and play with my group this yr.”