After a less-than-inspiring start to the 2025 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs have started to resemble the team that most fans and pundits are used to seeing.
The Chiefs will receive a major boost on Sunday when they take on the Las Vegas Raiders. Wide receiver Rashee Rice will return to the team after completing a six-game suspension to begin the season. The team is excited for his return and believes he is one of the game’s elite targets.
“Now 3-3 after an 0-2 start, Kansas City welcomes the Raiders to Arrowhead this weekend with a major boost: the return of Rashee Rice,” wrote Jesse Newell of The Athletic. “After serving a six-game suspension, the team’s No. 1 receiver is back and expected to have a full workload. The Chiefs are sky-high on Rice, with one team source calling him “a top-10 wideout in this league.””
“He’ll rejoin second-year receiver Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown, a trio we’ve never seen together in the regular season.”
Rice’s 2024 season ended in Week 4 when he suffered a knee injury, and he has not participated in a game since then. Despite this, there are reasons to believe that the 25-year-old could make a major impact.
Across 16 contests in 2023, the Philadelphia native recorded 79 receptions, posted 938 receiving yards, and caught seven touchdowns. It might be too early to anoint him as one of the game’s finest targets, but he could elevate a Kansas City unit that has already begun to turn the corner offensively.
“He’s unique because of his size and ability after the catch to play physical,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said of Rice.
Brown and Worthy are supremely talented in their own right, and if nothing else, Rice will benefit from not having to carry the wide receiving corps. Additionally, it would not be shocking to see quarterback Patrick Mahomes spread the ball out effectively and find moments throughout the season where each weapon can shine.
Rice might not be a top-ten receiver yet, but his return will offer Mahomes and the Chiefs the chance to place him into that stratosphere.
