Why Chiefs teammate believes Rashee Rice has taken ‘massive step’ since last season
Kansas City Chiefs receiver Justin Watson says a route from Saturday is worth re-watching. And it’s one way to see how much teammate Rashee Rice has improved from a season ago.
This was midway through the first quarter of Saturday’s preseason game against the Lions, and Rice was supposed to run a six-yard hitch route. By definition, that means stopping and turning back toward the quarterback to catch the ball.
Except, on replay, it doesn’t look like that type of movement at all.
That’s because Rice — the Chiefs’ second-year receiver — sees what QB Patrick Mahomes does. A pair of Detroit zone defenders start retreating away from Rice, so he alters his route based on that new information.
“Before the ball was even in the air, he was already turning and starting to run upfield,” Watson said, “because he felt the space.”
Mahomes saw the same thing, leading Rice forward on the pass so he was already sprinting when he made the reception.
Suddenly, a planned six-yard reception became a 14-yard gain — all because of some in-game adapting Rice wouldn’t have done during this same point in his rookie season.
“You see a lot of those same things with (Patrick) and Trav,” Watson said of the post-snap adjustment. “So I think Rashee is in an awesome place.”
One can’t talk about Rice’s offseason without mentioning the obvious: He will face an NFL suspension at some point.
The receiver faces eight charges — including two felony charges — following a March road-racing incident that resulted in injuries to other drivers. A police affidavit stated Rice, who has admitted to being the driver of a Lamborghini Urus vehicle involved, was going 119 mph just before the crash.
However, the NFL typically does not hand out punishments for these matters until the legal process ends. So with each passing day that Rice’s case remains open, it seems more likely that he could avoid suspension altogether in 2024.
Two things also can be true at once: Rice can have a likely suspension looming while also on the verge of a potential breakout campaign while he’s still able to play.
Rice was the Chiefs’ best receiver during the last month at training camp. And he should only be opened up more on his preferred underneath and intermediate routes this fall now that KC has added speedy players Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy to the roster.
A 2023 second-round pick out of SMU, Rice will be trying to build off an impressive rookie year. He had 79 catches for 938 yards last season before setting a new NFL rookie postseason record with 26 catches in the playoffs.
“To see him go from where he was at the end of last year and take a massive step to where he’s at now has been cool to see,” Watson said. “I think he’s gonna be a great leader for our room this year, on and off the field.”
The off-field part will likely take some time to build following the car crash this spring. When speaking for the first time publicly about the incident in June, Rice said that he had “learned so much from that. All I can do is mature and continue to grow from that. This is a step in a better direction for me.”
Strictly talking on-field, though, don’t be surprised if Rice emerges as the Chiefs’ true No. 1 receiver.
With more ability to turn six-yard gains into 14-yard ones — if the right look presents itself.
