The Kansas City Chiefs' offense struggled to find its footing for much of the year in the passing game despite throwing a whopping 600 passes (6th in the NFL) largely due to injuries at the wide receiver position.
Sometimes even the best laid plans go to waste.
The Chiefs had seemingly loaded up at wide receiver with the additions of both first-round pick Xavier Worthy and free agent Marquise Brown in 2024, but an injury to Brown in the first preseason game was compounded in its disaster effect when Rashee Rice tore his right LCL on the final weekend of September, ending his 2024 season.
Rice was one of the leading receivers in the entire NFL to start the 2024 season after three games, and his absence was felt significantly throughout the remainder of the year. Lately, everybody's been wondering the same thing: When is he actually coming back? Thankfully, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid provided a huge update on Rice's potential return timeframe at the annual league meetings.
Rashee Rice "on track" to be ready for Chiefs training camp in 2025
According to The Kansas City Star, the Chiefs are expecting their WR1 to be back in the fold for training camp in 2025.
“He’s on track to be ready (for camp). We’ll see. He’s working his tail off right now, I know.”
Andy Reid (via The Kansas City Star)
The Chiefs will undoubtedly ease Rice back into action, but this is exciting news for Kansas City's passing game. Again, they threw the 6th-most passes in the NFL last year but ranked just 14th in passing yards. The Chiefs were also 15th in scoring and 22nd in red zone offense, and those two areas were directly affected by the lack of a player like Rice at wide receiver.
Could he possibly have been that much of an impact? Absolutely.
Rice has a quarterback rating when targeted so far in his NFL career of 122.2, meaning he's been borderline unstoppable. If a quarterback finished a game or a season with a 122.2 rating, they're likely going to be the MVP of the league. Josh Allen's QB rating this past season was 101.4. Patrick Mahomes had a rating of 113.8 back in his ridiculous 2018 campaign (career-high).
Rice's impact is significant, and he had clearly taken the next step in his game at the beginning of last season.
His return to the field, assuming he's back at mostly full strength, is akin to the Chiefs acquiring a Pro Bowl receiver this offseason. He's more than just a nice role player to have in the offense or even just a strong option in the passing game. Rice is a game-changing WR1 and one of the top young players at his position in the league right now.
He's going to help take the Chiefs' offense to the next level in 2025 and we'll hopefully see him back at full strength sooner rather than later.