Some 16 months after being involved an offseason car accident in Texas, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has been sentenced to five years’ probation and 30 days in jail, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He’s likely to serve an NFL-mandated suspension during the 2025 season, with Chiefs Digest writer Matt Derrick writing that Kansas City is preparing to be without him for up to four weeks.
Rice, the Chiefs’ second-round pick in the 2023 Draft, proved to be a star in his rookie season, finishing sixth in AP Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, hauling in 79 passes for nearly 1,000 receiving yards and seven scores before recording 262 more receiving yards in the postseason as Kansas City won its second consecutive Super Bowl. His 2024 season was off to an even better start, as he recorded a league-leading 288 yards in the first three games before tearing his LCL in a collision with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
If Rice serves a four-game suspension at the start of the season, it could have some effect on the Chiefs, given the gauntlet that they have to open the season: a divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, a home game against the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, a road game against the New York Giants, and a home game against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Rice’s likely absence might slightly help Xavier Worthy — he averaged just 3.7 targets per game in his rookie season while Rice played and 6.7 thereafter — but given his elite postseason performance, Worthy figured to be Kansas City’s No. 1 option this season regardless, so his fantasy value shouldn’t jump much in season-long leagues. Given the stacked nature of each of those teams’ secondaries — the Eagles, Chargers, and Ravens ranked first, second, and eighth in coverage grades last season, per Pro Football Focus — those weeks don’t present the best fantasy outlooks for Worthy.
I’d also be hesitant to draft Brown: after returning from a lengthy absence after shoulder surgery with a pair of solid regular-season games, he was mostly a non-factor in the playoffs. The core of the Chiefs’ offense is Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce anyways, so Brown being WR2 for four weeks instead of WR3 doesn’t make him a huge fantasy asset. His stats might look something like Worthy’s through three weeks — six catches for 81 yards — which won’t make him have much value.
