Laddie Morse
The 2023 season was going to be hard from the start, and it was. With JuJu Smith-Schuester leaving last offseason and Tyreek Hil leaving the year before, the wide receiver room was in a needy place. That was especially true since, 2022 rookie, Skyy Moore didn’t pan out the way many thought, or hoped, he would. So, the this past season was a testing ground for 2023 rookie Rashee Rice and by all accounts, he passed with flying colors.
Here are rashee Rice’s critical stats adapted from NFL.com:
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As you can see, the Chiefs didn’t play in week 10 due to a Bye Week on their schedule. What the above stats don’t show are Rashee Rice’s playoff stats. Those were adapted from StatMuse.com and are as such:
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Brad Henson Productions points out that Rashee Rice has had the most receptions by a rookie in the playoffs with 26.
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Rice played in all four of the playoff games for K.C., which means he averaged 65.5 yards per game.
For the first four games of the season, WR Rashee Rice averaged 9.7 per catch and 10 yards per catch, and 11.8 per catch, and 10.7 per catch. In those first four games he averaged 35 yards per game.
By the past four games of the season he averaged 10.3, 10.1, 9.5 and 25.4. That works out to 86.75 yards per game.
Yards Per Game is where we can see the most progress. From 35 Yards Per Game to 86.75 Yards Per Game.
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2024 Season
65.5 Yards Per Game is what Rice averaged in the playoffs so, somewhere between 65 YPG and 86 YPG is what we can expect out of him in 2024… me thinks. I won’t be at all surprised if Brett Veach picks up a WR, maybe two, in Free Agency and the draft. I’d guess that he wants to get one in each place if possible. In Free Agency and the draft is the place to find those WRs, and so, the F.A. Legal Tampering Period begins today at 11 AM CDT and the Draft, is to be held this year in Detroit, from Thursday April 25-to-27.
In the middle of last season, Zach Eisen wrote a piece called, “Rashee Rice Is Showing Legit Promise Early in His Rookie Season” for SI.com in which he said:
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“By the end of the year, Rice could legitimately lead Kansas City’s wideouts in all major receiving categories. He already has the most targets and receptions while being tied for the most touchdowns of anyone in the receiver room…. From a statistical perspective, Rice is producing at a high level, which should continue as he gets more comfortable in the offense.”
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And… Rice did progress throughout the season. Rashee Rice not only was a good pass catcher for the 2023 season, but he could block too and that may have helped him get on the field much sooner in his career. Here he is blocking in the AFC Championship game vs the Ravens:
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Here’s another well blocked play by #4 Rice, springing Isiah Pacheco for a nice long run:
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Rice had 7 TDs his rookie year plus one in the playoffs. Here is his very first NFL TD:
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Here’s his longest catch even though it wasn’t a TD it was 67 yards (0:13).
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Here’s one of Rice’s longest catches, a TDs, a 39-yard catch and run.
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It’s much easier to project Rice to have a big year in 2024 because in 2023 he had a large Yards After Catch average. Rice had 653 Yards after Catch which helped him rank 3rd in the NFL behind only CeeDee Lamb (680) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (668).
As Brad Henson Productions revealed earlier that he’s excited to see what Rice can do in year 2, and, I’m also excited to see what Rashee Rice will do in his 2nd year. He had 938 receiving yards in 2023, just 62 yards short of 1,000, and you have to wonder what he’ll be able to do in year two with Patrick Mahomes manning the throttle.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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