Rashee Rice of the Kansas City Chiefs runs with the ball against Josh Woods of the Arizona Cardinals … [+]
Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice’s second preseason game got off to a rough start.
The 55th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft dropped a pass on the second play, and that was after he dropped a pass in last week’s contest.
But then Rice ended up leading all receivers with eight catches for 96 yards in the Chiefs’ impressive 38-10 win against the Arizona Cardinals.
“He had the drop early and then responded well,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “You can see the talent.”
Mahomes compared the 6-1, 204-pound Rice to his former teammate Sammy Watkins, who played at 6-1, 211, because of their physicality and speed.
“He’s going to be a great player for us,” Mahomes said. “And we’re going to keep trying to push him to be even better.”
On the Chiefs’ first drive of second quarter, Rice had his longest reception, exploiting a coverage breakdown to beat linebacker Isaiah Simmons, the eight overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and a Kansas City native, for 38 yards.
Then, two plays later, he had a four-yard catch to help set up Shane Buechele’s touchdown run on the ensuing play.
On the Chiefs’ second drive of second quarter, he had four catches, which all came from Buechele, an understudy to Mahomes, who was impressed by the rookie receiver.
“I have a lot of trust in him,” Mahomes said. “He makes catches in tough spaces.”
On his second of those four catches on that drive, he went in motion and then spun to the outside to elude cornerback Christian Matthew and gain 10 yards.
That’s the kind of yard-after-catch play that has excited Chiefs fans during training camp.
“He’s a good football player,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said, “and really has had a nice camp for us.”
Another highlight on the drive also came off of motion. He then ran a slant, broke two tackles and gained 25 yards.
But showing the improvement that Rice still must make, linebacker Josh Woods jarred the ball loose on that play, causing a fumble, which Rice recovered. And then Rice got the pitch on a jet sweep two plays later but netted zero yards.
Rice had an incredible senior year at SMU. He led the Division I Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in receiving yards per game (112.9) while recording 1,355 receiving yards, though he did drop too many passes.
Mahomes attributed Rice’s drops during the preseason contests to the jitters of playing in his first couple of NFL games, but Reid noted it’s an area for improvement.
“It’s great to come back,” Reid said. “Let’s try to eliminate the first part of the equation.”
The math could benefit the Chiefs. If Rice is a significant contributor, they will receive great value. The second-round pick of 2022 is entering the first year of his four-year, $6.5 million rookie deal.
He is part of the Chiefs’ stable of young receivers with potential, including Justyn Ross, who had two catches for 18 yards against the Cardinals.
Those receivers helped the Chiefs record 20 straight completions and complete 81.6% of their total pass attempts.
That pass-catching depth should help as the Chiefs aim for another Super Bowl title.
Their last one was played in State Farm Stadium, meaning the Chiefs have won in that stadium three times in 12 months.
They began the 2022 campaign with a 44-21 win against the Cardinals in Week One at State Farm and ended it with a 38-35 Super Bowl victory there against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Someone pointed out to Mahomes that his team scored the exact same number of points it did in Super Bowl LVII during Saturday night’s preseason game.
Mahomes, though, was nonplussed.
“We’ve played here a lot,” he said. “Other than that it’s just another football game, and let’s keep it moving.”