Matt Nagy Explains Where KC Chiefs Rookie WR Rashee Rice Has Grown the Most
The Kansas City Chiefs' offense has been a work in progress through seven weeks, but a few players have managed to ascend to the top despite the overall unit failing to live up to expectations at times. The usual suspects of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce occupy the top two spots, but rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice is also playing some good football as he opens his professional career.
Rice, a second-round pick out of SMU, has been targeted no fewer than four times in five consecutive games. He's logged at least four receptions in four of those contests, averaging just over 51 yards and just under half a touchdown per game dating back to Week 3. This has come with him hovering around an average of 50% snaps played, making his impact some of the best on the Chiefs roster offensively.
The beginning of Rice's season has caught some by surprise, as he's done more already than second-year wideout Skyy Moore did all of his rookie season. His growth within the offense is obvious, and he's quickly established himself as one of Mahomes's most trusted targets. On Thursday, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy explained where Rice has improved and instead of pointing to something advanced, he said the rookie simply understands his role more.
"I think what it is is if you go back to training camp it was hard for him, like any normal receiver that comes in, it's difficult and not easy to get lined up and know where to go and what to do within the play," Nagy said. "Right now, that part's getting easier for him. When he breaks the huddle, he knows exactly where to line up. He's looking across at the defense and he has an idea of what the coverage might be, and now he can adjust his route accordingly. We all talked about the drops early on with him early in the season — when you're thinking about the details of the play or the route, sometimes you lose the natural ability that you've had all your life to catch the football. Obviously, you're seeing that come back and it's getting better and better. That's a credit to him because his confidence is growing in a good way."
Among all pass-catching options on the Chiefs, Rice trails only Kelce in several statistical categories. His 34 targets, 26 receptions, 16 first downs, 305 yards and three touchdowns all rank second on the team in 2023. The 23-year-old's ability to generate yards after the catch has also been quite impressive, with ESPN's recently developed receiver analytics metric slotting him in as the fifth-best player in the entire league when it comes to that.
Per Pro Football Focus, Rice is the 16th-graded wide receiver in the entire NFL through Week 7. Among those who have notched at least 20% of the maximum targets mark, he's fourth in yards after catch per reception with 7.5 and is 11th in yards per route run at 2.56. Just about whichever way you want to slice it, it's hard to conclude that Rice has been anything short of quite solid in year No. 1 on the job.
The positive thing for the Chiefs is that there's plenty of time left in this season. Rice, as well as the rest of his wide receiver peers, are still picking up the finer details of the offense and building trust with Mahomes. Sunday's game against the Broncos will present another opportunity for growth, especially for the rookie. As Nagy points out, compounding that trust and understanding within the confines of the system is a weekly goal. Rice is off to a good start.
"He knows he's got a ways to go but you can see in practice when he breaks the huddle, there's not so much where you run out to the left and you've got to run back to the right because you went to the wrong side or your split's a little off," Nagy said. "You see less of that. So when you get in the game, you're at the spot you need to be and when the quarterback sees that, there's trust. And the more and more trust you have between a quarterback and a wide receiver, tight end or running back, the more successful you're going to be. I think you're slowly starting to see that with this offense, it takes a little time. Every series, every game, there's highs and lows. We just had a good one offensively, [but] we've got to stack it. We've got to do it again."
