While the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have faced challenges establishing an offensive rhythm this season, one bright spot has been the breakout of second-year wide receiver Rashee Rice. The second-rounder wideout from SMU is establishing himself as a go-to target in the Chiefs\u2019 offense \u2014 and that comes as no surprise to head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s as good as we were hoping he would be,\u201d declared Reid after Wednesday\u2019s practice. \u201cThe thing you don\u2019t know when you get into this is the work ethic. He works his tail off. His willingness to get with Pat and to listen… to get with Kelce and drain him of some of his knowledge \u2014 he\u2019s very receptive to all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rice\u2019s eagerness to learn from two of the game\u2019s best has translated into immediate production this season. He ranks first in the league with 24 receptions, while his 288 receiving yards are second only to the\u00a0Houston Texans\u2019 wide receiver Nico Collins (who has 338).<\/p>\n
Mahomes established a strong rapport with the receiver during Rice\u2019s rookie season \u2014 and loves what he sees during Year 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just making plays,\u201d said Mahomes. \u201cI think you\u2019ve seen that he\u2019s been more versatile this year. He\u2019s able to run more routes \u2014 [and] then he\u2019s able to catch the ball and make stuff happen after the catch. He\u2019s a hard guy to tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the quarterback, part of Rice\u2019s success comes from the coverage Kelce demands from opposing defenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of attention on Travis,\u201d explained Mahomes. \u201cBut when Rashee is getting those one-on-one matchups, he\u2019s winning \u2014 and that\u2019s all you can ask for. He\u2019s getting better and better each and every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Mahomes\u2019 eyes, however, what truly sets Rice apart from other receivers is his relentless effort \u2014 which he compares to running back Isiah Pacheco.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe plays extremely hard every single snap,\u201d he observed. \u201cThat\u2019s something that can\u2019t 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 [to] read the coverage. But he plays hard \u2014 so that when you give him the football, he\u2019s going to run and get whatever\u2019s there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives energy \u2014 kind of like when Pop runs the football. It gives energy to the whole team because of how hard and competitive he\u2019s playing out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rice\u2019s consistency and effort have earned Mahomes\u2019 trust; the young wideout has caught two of the quarterback\u2019s five touchdown passes this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve built confidence with him that I can go to him in these big moments,\u201d noted Mahomes. \u201cThird downs, red zone \u2014 he\u2019s going to go out there and make the plays happen. Kind of like in the fourth-and-6 when I completed the pass to him in the Bengals game. He gained that trust from me, and it\u2019s cool to see because he\u2019s still a young player. He can still get better and better, but it\u2019s great to see that all that hard work is paying off.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he proves that he has what it takes to thrive alongside Mahomes and Kelce, all signs point to Rice playing an even bigger role in Kansas City\u2019s offensive attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have faced challenges establishing an offensive rhythm this season, one bright spot has been the breakout of second-year wide receiver Rashee Rice. The second-rounder… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n