Chiefs Rookie WR Rashee Rice: Destined For Greatness

Laddie Morse

I abhor bait and switch articles or YouTube videos that do the same. However, I’ve watched enough of Rashee Rice’s games tapes from 2022 to be higher on him than the next guy. Also, the next guy might be higher on him than I think he is… but I’m now higher than high…. and no, I haven’t been smoking anything or snorting any white stuff (and I never have).

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Jeff Trudeau wrote a piece for the SportsBank.net called: “Nine Traits of a Great Wide Receiver” in which he revealed those nine traits of WR greatness as being:

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1. Route Running

2. Size

3. Speed

4. Quickness

5. Hands

6. Toughness

7. Stamina

8. Football I.Q.

9. Relationship With the QB 

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What I’ll do here is use Jeff’s nine traits as a guidepost for examining Rashee Rice.

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Route Running

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TheDraftNetwork.com summarized Rashee Rice’s route running like this:

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Make no mistake about it, Rice is a quality route-runner that is fully capable of executing any route…. When projecting Rice to the next level, the most notable concern is developing and expanding his route tree.

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Does that sounds like a bit of a conflicting review of Rice? It sure does to me. Mind you, this was written before te draft ever happened and they couldn’t possibly know Rice would be learning from Andy Reid’s thick playbook.

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Size

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Rashee Rice stand 6-foot-1 and weighs 204 lbs.. Here’s his Relative Athletic Score:

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Evaluation “Size” is a bit of a misnomer in today’s game. The 5-foot-10, 191 lbs. Tyreek Hills proves that process to be a faulty one.

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Speed

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Rashee Rice ran a 4.61 – 40 yard dash time, but he did that while nursing a bad foot/ankle. Here’s Rice last November talking about the recovery process:

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Rice’s speed benefits him in his route running and pairs well with his quickness.

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Quickness

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In a pre-draft interview, allchgo.com wrote about Rashee Rice and said:

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“When Rice was at the podium, he mentioned that he is coming in with the mindset of becoming a team’s WR1. He believes what makes him special is his quick feet, which allow him to create separation.”

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Almost every site that evaluates Rice notes his quick feet. You can see that whenever you watch his tape.

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Hands

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From profootballnetwork.com offers this article called: “Rashee Rice, WR, SMU | NFL Draft Scouting Report” in which Ian Cummings writes:

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“It’s easy to sell onlookers on Rice’s brand of athleticism, but his best trait is undoubtedly his elite catching instincts. Rice has a tremendous sense of timing and coordination at the catch point. He can effortlessly elevate and contort to guide the ball into his frame.”

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Cummings goes on to say this about rice:

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“Rice is a true acrobatic catcher who makes challenging adjustments look routine. He even draws defensive penalties at the catch point with his intimidating ability. But his instincts provide value even outside of contested situations. Rice very naturally flexes to corral imprecise throws over the middle of the field, and he can make RAC catches in stride. Moreover, Rice can make diving catches and protect the ball from the turf while lunging.”

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Toughness

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PFF has pointed out that Rashee Rice has “that dawg in him that makes him want to go beat people up sometimes” so let’s listen to what they had to say in evaluating Rashee Rice while comparing him to Isiah Pacheco:

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Stamina

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Andy Reid provided an initial look at Rashee Rice from the rookie mini-camp last week. In an article for Chiefs Wire called: “Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides first impression of rookie WR Rashee Rice” Charles Goldman quotes Reid as saying:

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“Strong, the kind of the things we saw on tape. He’s got to make sure he gets his running in. That position, we run like crazy. He’s got to get that part taken care of, but you could see the strength in his route running, his ability to work in space. He’s got good hands.”

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While Rice appears to need conditioning (according to Reid) that looks like something he can pick up on in Training Camp.

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Football I.Q.

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Nate Christiansen at ArrowheadPride offers some insight following this video:

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“… Rice is running an option route from the slot. Once he recognizes the linebacker holding inside leverage, Rice snaps out to the flat. While this is a straightforward rep, this type of recognition consistently appears on film.”

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When Rice notices that the LB is going to cover him, he opts for a route to the flat when he receives the ball. That’s the kind of on-filed, in-game smarts we see from Travis Kelce. If Rice can pick up on the cues from Mahomes he’ll be way ahead of the game. That leads us directly to your last category: his relationship with the QB…

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Relationship with the QB

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Jordan Foote at SI.com wrote a piece called: “Connection With Patrick Mahomes Sparked Chiefs’ Rashee Rice Pick” in which he noted: “Kansas City’s newest wide receiver was far from a spur-of-the-moment pick in the second round” and pointed out that Patrick Mahomes said:

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“You know I give my input on all offensive guys.”

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With Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball to several wideouts who were prospects in this draft, he got an insiders view of every single possible prospect who might fall to the Chiefs. Rice was falling all right… all the way to pick #55 in the second round of the draft, and while K.C. wasn’t scheduled to pick until #63, GM Brett Veach jumped up and got his man — or you could say he got Mahomes’ man — and the rest is history. Here’s a look at some of Rashee Rice’s highlights (2:59):

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I’m sure it didn’t hurt the process at all having QB Shane Buechele already on the Chiefs roster, as Buechele had previously been Rashee Rice’s team mate and QB at SMU, just two years ago. From ProFootballNetwork.com comes this:

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“No one’s giving SMU the “WRU” crown, but you can’t deny the talent the team has produced over the years. From accomplished, prestigious veterans like Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton, to up-and-coming catalysts like 49ers 2022 third-round pick Danny Gray, the Mustangs are one of the nation’s most underrated WR factories. And their best product yet might be hitting the shelves.”

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There’s no denying the potential of Rashee Rice. Just like any other rookie coming to Kansas City, he’ll need to sparkle and shine before we see his full gifts on display. Here’s to the greatness I see… on the verge.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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