Chiefs position spotlight: Wide receiver questions, concerns and battles

The calendar has turned to July, which means we can finally say the Kansas City Chiefs will pick up with training camp in St. Joseph later this month.

So far, we have previewed the offensive line and the battle at right tackle, followed by the outlook for defensive backs and the logjam of options at cornerback.

The next most intriguing position to watch is wide receiver.

Can Rashee Rice emerge as the guy for Patrick Mahomes?

Rashee Rice was in the midst of a modest statistical start to his rookie season in 2023. During the first 10 games of the season, he averaged 3.6 receptions and 42 yards per game.

Then Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders happened. In the Chiefs’ 31-17 victory, Rice broke out for eight catches, 107 yards and a touchdown, beginning a six-game stretch in which he averaged 7.2 receptions and 86.3 yards to close the season.

That postseason, Rice was Patrick Mahomes’ second-favorite target with 33, only four fewer than Travis Kelce’s 37. Rice finished the postseason with 26 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown, and the Chiefs likely wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl without him.

With Kelce another year older, the Chiefs believed they could shift the offensive focal point from the tight end to the athletic wide receiver entering 2024, when they would try to win a third consecutive Super Bowl championship.

As is known now, that passing of the torch has yet to really pan out for various reasons.

In March 2024, Rice was involved in a high-speed multi-vehicle crash in Dallas, then fled the scene. Even though his NFL suspension was delayed a season, he went on to suffer a season-ending knee injury in Week 4 of 2024.

Rice returned from a six-game suspension in Week 7 of 2025 to a 3-3 Chiefs team. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, Rice turned a team-leading 10 targets into seven receptions for 42 yards and two touchdowns.

Over his eight games in 2025, Rice’s production came close to that closing stretch of his rookie season, as he averaged 6.6 catches for 71.4 yards, finishing with 571 receiving yards and six scrimmage touchdowns.

Still, the Chiefs see more for the 26-year-old receiver entering his contract year. If he can stay out of trouble and healthy, Kansas City firmly believes he can become the team’s first 1,000-yard wide receiver since Tyreek Hill in 2021.

Head coach Andy Reid wants Rice to be his reliable volume receiver, one he can shift around the line of scrimmage to exploit matchups with easy completions on screens and crossers, where he can showcase his innate ability to accumulate yards after the catch.

According to Pro Football Focus, Rice saw 28 targets in the short-center and intermediate-center areas in 2025; he caught 16 passes for 226 yards, including 116 yards after the catch.

If Rice and new running back Kenneth Walker can serve as the team’s early down answers that keep defenses honest, that should open up opportunity for Mahomes to finally see some open looks downfield again.

Rice missed offseason practices as he served 30 days of jail time after a probation violation. The Chiefs have said he should be ready to begin camp following surgery to clean up his knee.

Nobody in the building doubts how good Rice can be. What has been missing so far in his young career is his ability to do it for a full season.

Throwing deep: Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton

Players have a tendency to be more forthcoming about injury-related struggles a year later.

That happened with Xavier Worthy, who admitted in June that he was limited throughout 2025 by the shoulder injury he suffered when he collided with Kelce just three plays into the season. With three fewer appearances, Worthy’s production dipped from 742 scrimmage yards as a rookie to 619 in 2025.

After offseason surgery, Worthy should enter training camp closer to full strength, which will allow Reid to make use of his ability to line up all over the field. In 2025, Worthy took 70% of his wide-or-slot snaps outside and 30% inside.

Speaking at last year’s Scouting Combine, Reid was bullish on Worthy’s second season, emphasizing that the Chiefs see the 40-yard dash king as more than a deep threat. Those words played out in his targets, as he saw more than 10 apiece behind the line of scrimmage, short, intermediate and deep.

Free from injury, Worthy should see an uptick in production while giving Reid value as a decoy of sorts. Worthy’s speed and pre-snap motion provide precious eye candy to open space for Rice, Kelce and Walker.

And then there is the returning Tyquan Thornton. Though the mild-mannered receiver would never say it, there is probably nobody happier that Hollywood Brown moved on to the Philadelphia Eagles and JuJu Smith-Schuster moved on to the New York Giants.

Their departures open up 1,171 snaps and 118 targets. During a brief free-agency tour, Thornton explained that he wanted greater usage wherever he landed.

And there is a case he deserves it.

During the first six games of 2025, with Worthy out for three, then limited, and Rice suspended, Thornton made 13 catches for 272 yards and three touchdowns. One of the few bright memories of the 2025 season was his 33-yard catch in Week 3 against the New York Giants, when he raised one finger in the air to set the Chiefs up for a score that put the game out of reach.

Thornton returned to the Chiefs on a two-year contract worth $11 million. While the Chiefs intend to use Worthy in a variety of ways, Thornton should be regarded as the receiver room’s true field-stretcher.

In 2025, he utilized his 4.28 speed to lead the league with a 26.89-yard average depth of target. He turned limited opportunity into 19 catches for 438 yards and three touchdowns, numbers that should improve with more time on the field.

The rest of the room — and the battle for WR4

In my way-too-early 53-man roster projection, I completed the receiver room with second-year player Jalen Royals, rookie Cyrus Allen and returner Nikko Remigio.

The Chiefs took Royals in last year’s fourth round, and there were hopes that he could become a player with a similar profile to Rice. But it hasn’t happened, at least yet.

Royals hardly saw the field, even as the Chiefs dealt with injuries and were eliminated from playoff contention. Whether that was due to trust in the playbook or other factors, Royals enters camp needing to prove he belongs in the rotation.

In Week 18, Royals had a season-high 43 snaps and made his only two receptions of the season for 4 yards.

In this year’s fifth round, Kansas City acquired instant competition for that next receiver spot when it selected Cincinnati’s Cyrus Allen. The Chiefs view Allen as a slot option with room to grow on the outside.

Royals should get his chance to hold off Allen. During two open media looks of mandatory minicamp, Royals drew four targets from Mahomes in 7-on-7 periods.

Nikko Remigio’s final spot should be safe as Dave Toub’s favorite returner unless Brashard Smith and Royals prove to be better options, which feels unlikely. Remigio led the team with 25 punt returns and 29 kick returns in 2025, and he clearly has the complete trust of the special teams coach.

Also, 2025 undrafted free agent Andrew Armstrong and 2026 undrafted free agent Jeff Caldwell could give the Chiefs bigger-bodied, red-zone options, with Allen listed at 6-foot-4 and Caldwell listed at 6-foot-5. But unless Kansas City keeps seven receivers — or finds a better returner than Remigio — their most plausible path may be through the practice squad.

Jason Brownlee actually made last year’s initial 53-man roster, but he was waived and added to the practice squad upon Rice’s return.

Pete Sweeney

The Kansas City Star

Pete Sweeney is The Star’s Kansas City Chiefs insider and beat writer. He has covered the team since 2014.