The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to make NFL history this upcoming season. Should they win the Super Bowl again, they will become the first team in league history to win the Big Game three times in a row. Of course, the Chiefs have a great deal of challenges to overcome in order to get the chance to win the Super Bowl again, some of them coming from their own roster.
One of these challenges is the uncertainty surrounding their wide receiver depth. Recently Marquis “Hollywood” Brown suffered a shoulder injury that is keeping him out for the remainder of the preseason. While he should be back by the start of the regular season (if not, shortly after), is absence draws attention to the fact that Kansas City lacks proven depth at wide receiver.
The Kansas City Chiefs Have Been Successful Without a Number One Wide Receiver
The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the last five seasons, but only one of them came with a bonified number one wide receiver on the roster. That, of course, was Tyreek Hill who helped Kansas City win the Super Bowl in 2019.
Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins following the 2021 NFL season and has experienced continued personal success with his new team. However, the Chiefs have won each of the last two Super Bowls without a true number one wide receiver on their roster.
All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, of course, makes up for a great deal of whatever may be otherwise lacking in the receiving game. Kelce has led the team in receiving yards in four of the past five seasons, including each of the last two.
That being said, there is one young player who could very well step into that number one wide receiver role in 2024: Rashee Rice.
While the Chiefs lack proven depth at the wide receiver position, they do have one young wide receiver that is full of potential and could become that type of player on their roster.
As mentioned, Kelce has led Kansas City in receiving in each of the last two seasons. Last year, he had 93 receptions for 984 yards and five touchdowns. Rice, though, was not far behind him. The SMU product caught 79 passes for 938 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.
Speaking to the media after the Chiefs’ preseason loss to the Detroit Lions, quarterback Patrick Mahomes stated his belief that Rice could be something special in the NFL.
“I think he’s going to be a lot better this year, honestly,” Mahomes said (via Heavy.com). “Just the way he’s able to run routes, it was coming along at the end of last year, but he worked on it this whole offseason and he’s in great shape, he’s coming in, he’s running great routes.
“I mean, even one of the plays I looked to the left and it wasn’t covered and he was kind of the back-side, and he won against a guy [in] man-to-man coverage, caught the ball and makes the positive play, and those are the little things that I think he’s going to continue to get better and better at.”
Of course, as good as Rice can be, he needs to stay on the field by staying out of trouble off of it. The second-year wide receiver is facing civil lawsuits following a high-profile car accident in Dallas earlier this year. Rice reportedly was driving 119 miles per hour and caused the crash. He also left the scene of the accident before police arrived.
Rice turned himself into authorities four days after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
It does not appear that the Chiefs’ troubled wide receiver will face any punishment from the NFL for the incident.
