KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Several members of the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense have the same answer when it comes to explaining why receiver Rashee Rice has had an impressive start to his rookie season.
Rice is known for asking questions.
“He’s just always trying to learn,” said receiver Justin Watson, a six-year veteran.
In practice last month, Rice received a compliment from tight end Travis Kelce after running a route during one of the repetitions for the first-team offense.
“He will give me encouragement, like, ‘Good job on that play,’” Rice said of Kelce. “But it’s always something else that I can add that will help me improve my game.”
So Rice asked Kelce another question. Of course, Rice has been listening to quarterback Patrick Mahomes — and coach Andy Reid, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and any older player willing to give advice.
In Mahomes’ sixth season as the Chiefs’ leading man, Rice is the rookie receiver who has progressed the fastest to become a legitimate contributor. Through six games, he leads the Chiefs’ collection of receivers, generating 245 yards and two touchdowns on 21 catches.
“He’s doing a great job of just being in the right spot at the right time,” Mahomes said of Rice. “He plays hard. He plays fast. When he gets his opportunities, he makes the most out of them.”
Rashee Rice with a burst of speed 😤#DENvsKC on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus
https://t.co/U9rA3YdBnZ pic.twitter.com/ldP7ndN2mk
— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2023
Rice is one of the brightest developments for the Chiefs’ offense, a unit that struggled in the red zone last week against the Denver Broncos, has nine giveaways this season and has stalled at times because of self-inflicted penalties.
“I wanted to have an impact on an offense as soon as I could,” Rice said. “I’ve got the greatest quarterback, so he’s going to make sure he puts it on the money.”
Such a play occurred in the Chiefs’ win over the Broncos, a third-and-2 snap at Kansas City’s 33-yard line in the fourth quarter. With the Broncos in zone coverage, Rice ran his comeback route deeper than Kelce’s shorter stop route. Multiple defenders gravitated toward Kelce, who finished the game with a team-leading 124 yards. When Mahomes unleashed his pass, Rice was wide open for the reception, ending the play with a season-long 28-yard gain that led to the Chiefs’ final field goal.
“I knew if I could get it into Rashee, there was kind of no one behind him,” Mahomes said after the game. “They were really focused on (taking) Travis away, which is smart thinking, but it opened up Rashee. I told him, ‘You got to get those knees up, man. If you get those knees up, I think you can get in the end zone.’ That will be the next progression for him.”
Although safety Kareem Jackson made a nice open-field tackle, preventing him from scoring a touchdown, Rice’s pivotal reception was exactly the kind of highlight the Chiefs envisioned for him when general manager Brett Veach executed a trade with the Detroit Lions to move the team up nine spots in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft to acquire him with the 55th pick.
The Chiefs were optimistic that Rice, at some point during his rookie contract, would become a strong receiver in the middle of the field, a role previously held by JuJu Smith-Schuster, who joined the New England Patriots via free agency this past offseason. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, Rice showed strong hands and the ability to create yards after the catch in college at SMU. As a senior in 12 games last season, Rice led all FBS receivers in receiving yards per game (112.9), finishing with 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“He’s like a running back after the catch,” assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi said of Rice in late April. “Once he catches the ball, you can see he’s violent.”
Rashee Rice: 83.2 grade this season
🔺 1st among Chiefs rookies
🔺 4th among all Chiefs players
🔺 11th among all WRs
(minimum 100 snaps played) pic.twitter.com/WJeLD6lVhD
— PFF KC Chiefs (@PFF_Chiefs) October 11, 2023
The Chiefs’ evaluation of Rice has translated well to the NFL. He has averaged 7.1 yards after the catch per reception, which is tied for the sixth-most in the league.
Late in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ win over the Minnesota Vikings, Rice caught a quick pass from Mahomes behind the line of scrimmage on a run-pass option. Knowing he needed to stay in bounds, Rice ran through rookie cornerback Mekhi Blackmon for an 8-yard gain that resulted in a first down.
“To be honest, I’m looking for every moment possible to try to run somebody over,” Rice said, smiling. “I knew it was clutch at the end of the game. He was kind of walking backward, as if he expected me to go out of bounds, so I kind of put my head down.”
One reason Rice ran a season-high 23 routes against the Broncos is because of his work the previous week against the Vikings. Although Rice ran just 10 routes against Minnesota, Nagy acknowledged that the rookie deserved more snaps after he didn’t make a mistake, during a game in which Kelce missed the first drive of the third quarter with a right low-ankle sprain.
“I think what we’re seeing right now with Rashee is someone that’s slowly gaining confidence in himself,” Nagy said, citing significant growth from the preseason. “That’s the exciting part that we all see.”
The best part of Rice’s development for Mahomes is that his receiver has learned, in a matter of weeks, how to adjust his route based on the coverage of the opposing secondary. Mahomes said he was surprised when the Vikings played a certain version of Cover 1 behind a five-man blitz in the red zone. But Mahomes saw Rice adjust his slant and win the one-on-one matchup, beating cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. for an 8-yard touchdown reception.
Chiefs for 6️⃣! @RiceRashee11 gets his 2nd TD of the year.
📺: #KCvsMIN on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus
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— NFL (@NFL) October 8, 2023
“This guy is going to be an absolute star in the NFL,” Watson said. “Seeing him run that route in practice, every time he ran it was a new look (against a different coverage), and Pat was talking about something new with him. Seeing him get a funky look in the game, it was awesome seeing him carry from the week of practice to Sunday.”
In the past two games, Mahomes has targeted Rice nine times. Eight of those passes have ended with Rice making the reception, seven of which featured him gaining yards after the catch. Mahomes explained that Rice’s production has increased because the rookie has proven to be a quick study.
“It’s just learning on the go, and that’s what you have to do as a rookie in this league,” Mahomes said of Rice. “He’s done a great job of it.”