Whether to risk a pick on Rashee Rice or not has been one of the biggest fantasy football debates of the summer, and the timeline of the receiver’s suspension became clear Wednesday. Per ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Rice has accepted to serve a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy that will begin at the start of the season.
On top of missing the first six games of the season, Rice has been dealing with a groin injury during training camp, as he still recovers from a season-ending knee injury that he suffered in the first few plays of Week 4 of last season. That being said, one would have to assume by the time Rice returns following his suspension that the wideout will be 100% healthy again and ready to reclaim his role as the Chiefs’ No. 1 receiver.
Before going down with the season-ending knee injury early last season, Rice was on a tear to begin his 2024-25 campaign, catching 24 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns in three games’ worth of action. During this stretch, Rice led Kansas City with 29 targets, and he was targeted on an elite 32% of his routes. With this usage, Rice produced 23.6 FPTS per game when excluding Week 4 –– he played four snaps in this game before getting hurt –– and 0.46 FPTS per snap, with that latter stat being in a tie for first among all receivers at the time.
There is no question that Rice will have incredible upside once his suspension is over, but is he worth using a pick in your fantasy football drafts, given the lengthy suspension? At a current ADP of 63.6 for Best Ball drafts on DraftKings, the answer is yes. While getting no production from Rice for the first six weeks of the season isn’t an easy pill to swallow, fantasy championships aren’t won in the early stages of the season, and Rice should be one of the best fantasy assets in the NFL when he returns. He could be a key piece in winning a fantasy title, barring another injury.
