Stop, collaborate, and listen: Rashee Rice returns from suspension to help lift the Kansas City Chiefs with dominant play.
Already having weathered a 3-3 start to their season, the Chiefs got a welcome sight in Week 7. It was in the guise of Rashee Rice showing up right on cue in Kansas City to face a divisional opponent in the Las Vegas Raiders. Rice had just finished a six-game suspension for his felony driving arrest, and fans everywhere wanted to know if he had to shake some rust off.
That’s what the Raiders are for, apparently.
It took the Chiefs and Rice all of nine minutes and 14 seconds through the first quarter (a nine-play, 92-yard drive) to finish off their first possession with a quick shovel pass from Patrick Mahomes to Rice from the two-yard line. The wide receiver scampered through the line untouched for an early 7-0 lead.
Kansas City was relentless on both sides of the ball, and immediately after forcing another punt on Las Vegas’ second possession, they drove down the field where Mahomes hit “Hollywood” Marquise Brown on an eight-yard strike. The Chiefs led 14-0 and did not let up. With 10 seconds to go in the first half, Mahomes found Rice on an outside-shoulder throw in the painted area after the wideout juked the corner with a nifty stutter-step at the snap.
It was all downhill for the Raiders in the game. They punted the ball six times, turned it over on downs once, and lost a fumble on their second drive in the fourth. Las Vegas finished the game with a whopping 95 total yards and three first downs on a grand total of 30 plays in the affair.
While the rest of the Chiefs all got in on the shellacking, the story was still the triumphant return of Rice. He looked as advertised in his rapport with Mahomes, seemingly picking up right where he left off on Sept. 29, 2024, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury. In his first game of 2025, Rice dashed the Raiders for a team-leading seven catches (10 targets) for 42 yards and the pair of touchdowns. He rewarded fantasy managers who drafted him and suffered through the long wait with 23.2 (PPR) fantasy points. A welcome splash for managers already dealing with injuries galore.
Rice and the Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) resume their campaign to return to the Super Bowl on Sunday, a home matchup with the Washington Commanders (3-4), who may be without the services of QB Jayden Daniels.
Author: Samwise (@BuyAndSellYou)
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is expected to...
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has received ...
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was looking ...
The Chiefs will waste no time and expect wide receiver Rashee Rice to have a heavy workload versus the Raiders.
The Chiefs are 3-3 in 3rd place in the AFC West. In their attempt to reach the Super Bowl for a 4th straight season, they now get back the highly talented Rashee Rice at wide receiver. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Rice will go “full bore.”
Much was made of the lack of receiver depth when Xavier Worthy suffered a dislocated shoulder on a crossing route where he collided with teammate Travis Kelce. The injury brought back bad memories from when Rice collided with quarterback Patrick Mahomes on an interception where he hurt his LCL and hamstring. Having been without Rice, the Chiefs offense has ironically been missing some extra juice for fantasy purposes.
Rice will immediately be in contention as a top-5 WR on a weekly basis as Mahomes has bounced back as the QB1 overall in fantasy football. Rice gets a juicy home matchup versus the Raiders. If Rashee Rice is on a roster, he needs to be started.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
With no Rashee Rice, the Chiefs will also be without rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals in Week 1.
The Chiefs will be without their rookie receiver when they travel to Brazil to play the Los Angeles Chargers. Royals is dealing with a knee injury. While injuries are never convenient, the timing does hurt as the Chiefs view Royals as an adequate replacement for Rice.
Royals’ skill set match would be perfect in the absence of Rice. Expect Patrick Mahomes to funnel targets to Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy. A sneaky roster move is to pick up rookie running back Brashard Smith if he is available on the waiver wire. Smith ran with the first team offense plenty during training camp and drafters have aspirations of Smith filling the Jerick McKinnon role. Smith should be on benches everywhere as his role could grow into must start territory; a potential league winner.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
The NFL initially wanted a suspension of 10-plus games for Rashee Rice
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the NFL initially proposed a suspension of 10 games or more, stemming from Rashee Rice’s dual-felony guilty plea. They were met by severe pushback from Rice’s representatives because there is “no precedent for suspending someone for over half the season.” However, this drapes a cloud over the assumption that the embattled wide receiver would only get four to six games.
In addition to the threat of a longer suspension than what was already expected, comes more news: Should the NFL and Rice’s lawyers agree on a suitable suspension, they could settle before the season. This means Rice could end up serving out the suspension at the start of the season, rather than in the middle or even closer to the playoffs.
Should the two sides reach an agreement on how many games and when they will be served, Rice can avoid a trip to the courthouse. The argument would then be heard by a former United States District Court judge who still practices law. However, if the two sides cannot come to an agreement before forcing that issue, they are at the mercy of scheduling. A delay in meeting with the former judge could last into the end of the year. Needless to say, the NFL and Rashee Rice would both like to agree on a suspension so that he can serve it sooner rather than later.
Fantasy football managers were already tussling with when drafting Rice was appropriate for their drafts. Now, it’s a wait-and-see situation that no one knows the answer to. It appears the suspension on the table might be six to eight games, leaving redraft managers to question whether it is worth it to roster him at all. The best-case scenario now seems to be Rice agreeing to six games (with no appeal) and to arrange that agreement prior to the season. In that case, he could sit out the beginning of the schedule and still be there for the meat and potatoes of it.
Rice is officially a gamble at this point. His current average draft position (ADP) is the final pick in the fourth round (4.12), and with this news, it’s fair to expect that number to tank further into the sixth or even seventh. For one redraft season, it hardly seems worth the gamble.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has his disciplinary hearing with the NFL scheduled after Week 4 of the 2025 season
Rashee Rice, found guilty of multiple felonious traffic incidents, including a collision involving bodily injury, will now get his day in front of the NFL disciplinary committee. Rice caused a multiple-vehicle pileup in Dallas, caused by his racing on the highway. He fled the scene.
The wide receiver was sentenced to 30 days in jail (deferred) and five years of probation. The next step for the embattled Rice is to appear before the NFL, which could impose a significant suspension on the wideout. Given the severity of the infraction and the guilty plea, the league is expected to levy a penalty somewhere in the neighborhood of four to six games.
The main takeaway of note for both the Chiefs and fantasy managers is that the hearing won’t be until Sept. 30. It comes as a bit of a surprise, considering the league often acts swiftly in cases of this severity. Now Rice will likely be available to the team for the first four weeks of the season, although that’s little consolation for fantasy managers and Kansas City, who will most likely be missing their WR1 during the meat of the NFL (and fantasy) schedule.
A six-game suspension seems to be the most likely scenario, and Rice could appeal that ruling. If he does, he could get it down to four games, but that would likely push the ruling dangerously close to the NFL playoffs. Should the initial suspension only be four games, the receiver would likely serve it immediately.
The last 30 days have seen Rice’s average draft position (ADP) tank to the tune of 21.1, down to 47.4. For the math majors out there, that’s over two rounds or difference. For those in drafts right now, his ADP is unlikely to come up dramatically, as many owners will still steer clear of the potential midseason suspension. Depending on roster size and league mates, it could be hard to pin down where to draft him if you covet him. The third round seems to be the logical conclusion (halfway through the ADP change), though that does not account for the other managers (and Chiefs fans) in fantasy leagues.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
Wide Receiver Rashee Rice will take part in the full gamut of Chiefs training camp snaps, according to HC Andy Reid
With the possibility of a suspension hanging over Rashee Rice’s preseason, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told The Athletic that the wide receiver will not be limited in training camp. “He’ll go in and take all the reps he would normally take,” said Reid.
Not only is this significant with a suspension looming, but it also suggests that Rice is fully healthy after his 2024 campaign ended early due to a torn LCL and hamstring tendon. While the Chiefs are calling the possibility of a suspension for the multi-vehicle hit-and-run “premature,” most around the NFL fully expect anywhere from a two-to-six game absence. He is likely to serve it at the beginning of the season and put it behind him, if possible.
Whenever Rice makes his debut, fantasy managers can rest assured of no lingering effects post-surgery to limit the wideout. He is currently still coming off the board in the early twenties of drafts as managers brace for the NFL’s ruling. When he does return, he will immediately become a “set it and forget it” WR1 to WR2 in fantasy lineups for the meat of the schedule.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
