ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news on Thursday that Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation stemming from his role in a multi-car crash in Dallas. The NFL can now begin its disciplinary process, which will likely result in a multi-game suspension this year. The news shakes things up for all Chiefs pass-catchers as training camp approaches.
The Facts
Rice was arrested for causing a six-car crash while racing his Lamborghini in Dallas in March of 2023. The legal case was kicked down the road for a while but was finally resolved earlier today when Rice pleaded guilty to felony racing on the highway and felony accident causing serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a five-year probation. The 30 days can be served at any point during the probationary period. As Schefter notes, the NFL will likely hand out a suspension for him this year.
With today’s ruling from a Dallas County judge, the expectation now is that Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice will serve his suspension during this upcoming season. https://t.co/zKX4cF6B9U
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 17, 2025
Rashee Rice Suspension
With no further details on the length of the suspension or when the NFL will hand it out, we’re left to guess how this will impact the Chiefs in 2025. Fantasy Twitter’s foremost legal expert Drew Davenport—an actively practicing defense attorney—has speculated that Rice will be suspended 2-4 games, with the latter being more likely.
My off-the-cuff take on Rashee Rice is that he likely gets 2-4 games, but 4 feels right to me.
As for the case finishing this quickly with no knowledge of an open case - the most likely explanation is something I have alluded to before - there was a Diversion opportunity or a…
— Drew Davenport (@DrewDavenportFF) July 17, 2025
I’d wager that Rice gets at least four games, and cautious fantasy managers might want to be risk-averse here to avoid holding the bag on a longer suspension. With well over a month until the season starts, that suspension is most likely to happen early in the year, if not exactly at the beginning. Rice was on a superstar trajectory through one season and three games in his second campaign, averaging 2.2 yards per route run as a rookie and 3.2 in his three games plus a few snaps of a fourth in 2024. He should, in theory, come back as that same player. If he is the focal point of the checkdown-heavy Chiefs offense in the second half of the season, Rice will still be a player you want on your fantasy rosters when it’s time for the playoff push.
Chiefs Fantasy Fallout
The “if” that began the previous sentence is carrying a mountain of weight. Xavier Worthy struggled as a deep threat for the first half of his rookie season. The Chiefs then transitioned him to an underneath role and he started to find his footing. Worthy had an aDOT of 11.9 yards over his first 10 weeks and averaged an untenable 2.2 catches for 27 yards during that stretch. He posted less than one yard per route run and was targeted on 15 percent of his routes in this role. Worthy’s aDOT plummeted to 7.8 over the second half of the season plus the playoffs. Throwing out the Week 18 game he played one snap of, Worthy averaged 5.8 receptions for 68 yards in his underneath role split. His YPRR jumped to 2.0 and he was targeted on 22 percent of his routes. Pro Football Focus graded him as their No. 13 receiver in these games.
All of that context is to say, the Chiefs found what worked for their first-round rookie, and that happens to be stunningly similar to what Rice does. Both win on underneath routes and are particularly efficient at generating yards after the catch. Assuming the Chiefs are operating as if Rice will be suspended to start the year, they will be spending training camp installing plays for and crafting the offense around Worthy. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said it best, “It is very difficult to get on a moving train.”
If Worthy is looking like a true breakout to start his second season, will there be enough to go around for Rice when he’s back from a potential suspension?
Travis Kelce appeared to have one foot out of the league when Rice was healthy last year. He caught eight passes for 69 yards in three games with Rice out there for four quarters. That average would have seen him finish the regular season under 400 yards. His numbers ballooned once Rice went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
He was on nearly a 1,000-yard pace from Week 4 onward. Worthy could simply take the next step, play as well as Rice, and render Kelce obsolete for fantasy once again. But Rice has already proven the ability to do that. If he were in line to play all 17 games this year, Kelce’s floor would have been arguably the lowest of any TE1. He will now at least start the year with a top-five weekly fantasy projection, though that could still be dashed if Rice is firing on all cylinders midway through the season.
Hollywood Brown is now a modestly intriguing early-season bet. He was initially set to serve as the Chiefs’ WR3 last year but missed most of the season with a shoulder injury. Brown returned late in the year and Andy Reid, desperate to find another playmaker, forced-fed him the ball. Brown was targeted on 25 percent of his routes across five games. Despite Reid’s efforts, nothing came of the targets and Brown averaged a lackluster 1.2 YPRR. He failed to hit 50 yards in any of his five appearances. Brown was returning from injury midseason to a team in an offensive funk. It was also his first year on a new team. His inefficiency could have been an anomaly, though he’s never been a particularly efficient wideout on a per-route basis. He has a career mark of 1.58 yards per route and it has been trending down ever since his second NFL season. Brown is largely a bet on early-season routes, though he could pick up more work if Worthy struggles again or Kelce is dust for good.
Lastly, it’s hard to imagine Patrick Mahomes looking back to form early in the season with his No. 1 receiver out of commission. Rice was successful in part because of how well his skill set matched the Chiefs’ newfound reliance on short throws. But he was also their best bet at generating explosive plays because of how dynamic he was with the ball in his hands. Rice had three receptions that went for more than 25 yards. He went for 30+ on two of them. That was 13 percent of the Chiefs’ explosive passing plays by either yardage threshold. He only accounted for six percent of the team’s catches in total. Mahomes is also seemingly done scrambling after coming off a five-year low in carries and yards. The setup that was destined to bring Mahomes back to fantasy glory was Rice dominating underneath looks with Worthy progressing as a downfield option. Now they simply have a lesser checkdown option in Worthy and no legitimate downfield threat.