Chiefs Loving Rashee Rice's Growth in Year Two: 'As Good As We Were Hoping'

With Rashee Rice making an even bigger impact in his sophomore season with the Chiefs, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes explained what's making it possible.

Sep 22, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Over the years, the Kansas City Chiefs' offense has operated through tight end Travis Kelce. Rightfully so, as the future Hall of Fame man is one of the best to ever do it. Last season, however, Kelce occasionally took a back seat to then-rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice.

That trend didn't translate to the postseason in a major way, but it certainly has to begin the 2024-25 season. Rice is the unquestioned No. 1 target for quarterback Patrick Mahomes through three weeks, leading Kansas City in just about every receiving stat imaginable. No one is particularly close, which is a testament to the former second-round pick's talent.

According to head coach Andy Reid, a lot of that is a byproduct of Rice's willingness to be a sponge.

“Rashee, yes, he’s as good as we were hoping he would be,” Reid said. “The thing you don’t know, Adam (Teicher), when you get into this is the work ethic and he works his tail off. His willingness to get with Pat and to listen – ‘Hey, let’s work in this area.’ To get with Kelce and drain Kelce of some of his knowledge, he’s very receptive to all that.”

Mahomes agrees, citing Rice as not only a more complete player now but also someone who continues to improve.

“Yeah, I mean, he’s just making plays," Mahomes said. "I think you’ve seen that he’s been more versatile this year, he’s got to run more and more routes. Then, the way he’s able to catch the ball and make stuff happen after the catch, he’s a hard guy to tackle. Being able to do both those things, I think it helps that the speed out there is kind of helping spread out the field for him and there’s a lot of attention on Travis but when he’s getting those one-on-one matchups, he’s winning and that’s all you can ask for a guy. He seems like he’s getting better and better each and every week.”

After hauling in 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie, Rice has picked up right where he left off and then some. The SMU product is tied for third in the NFL in targets thus far, holding a solo share of first place in receptions with 24. His 288 yards trail only Houston Texans star Nico Collins, and Rice also has a pair of touchdowns on his resume. His success rate (65.5%), catch rate (82.8%) and yards per target (9.9) are all up from his impressive debut campaign.

On top of occasionally expanding his range, the Chiefs continue to fuel Rice in some of the same areas as last year. In Weeks 1-3, over 75% of his targets are either behind the line of scrimmage or within nine yards of it. With a better understanding of the offense and a visibly shiftier athletic profile, he's thriving once again. Rice has a league-leading 186 yards after the catch, including 75 against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Raw talent and an elite quarterback-head coach duo set a high floor for Rice in Kansas City. With a tremendous work ethic and a considerable football IQ, he's managed to work closer to the ceiling.

“At the end of the day, I think he’s learned a ton," Mahomes said. "He doesn’t make the same mistakes. I always say that but it’s important because it’s not always the truth and he learns from his mistakes and he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Then, I think at the end of the day, what I love about Rashee more than anything is he plays extremely hard every single snap. That’s something that can’t be taught. You have to have this mentality that you want to compete and win. It might not always be perfect. It might not always be the perfect route or the perfect way that he read the coverage, but he plays hard so that when you give him the football he’s going to run and get whatever’s there. It gives energy, kind of like when Pop (Isiah Pacheco) runs the football. It gives energy to the whole team because of how hard and competitive he’s playing out there.”

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