Rashee Rice Injury Sparks Fantasy Football Uncertainty for Chiefs: What It Means for Players and Fans

The Chiefs became an NFL juggernaut in 2018. They had a solid running game behind rookie Kareem Hunt, but their real power was in the passing game — with receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce, powered by unicorn quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

In subsequent years, there was a revolving door of running backs, but the holy fantasy trinity of Hill, Kelce and Mahomes were always there to give opponents fits and award fantasy teams handsomely.

Until … Hill was traded after the 2021 season. The expectation was that losing him would bring about offensive decay in 2022. But instead, anyone know what happened? Anyone? … Anyone?

That’s right. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Kelce remained dominant and Mahomes was still the QB king, only instead of peppering a star WR with targets, he fed small portions of that volume among multiple ho-hum receivers.

Fast-forward to today: The Chiefs appear to have lost top receiver Rashee Rice for the season to a knee injury sustained on Sunday. Everything is going to be all right, right? After all, if they could lose Tyreek and still be good, losing Rice should be a solvable problem, right?

Does anyone see any reason why the same logic shouldn’t apply? Anyone? … Anyone? … That’s right, there are some differences.

Last time this happened, the Chiefs had a running game to lean on with then-rookie Isiah Pacheco, who first became fantasy relevant in the second half of the 2022 season. But the now-veteran RB is out likely until at least November after fibula surgery.

The options behind him are uninspiring and the workload unclear between Hunt, Samaje Perine and rookie Carson Steele. We expect the backfield to be befuddling and unreliable until Pacheco returns.

Moving on, Kelce was the alpha of the tight end species in 2022. Now, he is just one of the pack, and he isn’t even at the front of that pack.

He already is in uncharted waters, having performed as well as he has this deep into his 30s — he is 34. A boost in targets can be expected and should give his production a slight nudge upward, but don’t pin your hopes on a return to the salad days. He will be better than he has been so far this season, yet still well short of peak Kelce.

Anyone remember what happened to receivers after Hill was dealt? That’s right, the Chiefs spread the ball among multiple ho-hum receivers. And what is the best predictor of future behavior, class? Anyone? … Anyone? … That’s right, it’s past behavior. So expect the Chiefs to spread targets among multiple ho-hum receivers again this time.

Is Xavier Worthy an anomaly, you ask? Perhaps in terms of skill, but as far as our production hypothesis, we expect him to remain boom-or-bust, reliant on big plays rather than volume. And coach Andy Reid reinforced this theorem Monday, stating they plan to spread the ball around.

There is one piece of extra credit possible: If the Chiefs trade for a receiver. But we’ll cover that in a later class.

To summarize the expected duality: A lesser running game will make it easier for defenses to cover lesser receiving options, and lesser receivers will make it easier to defend against the run. Thus we have a self-perpetuating cycle that will ripple throughout the offense — thus a disagreeable amount of uncertainty.

So when you get to the question on the exam asking who are possible solutions to the Chiefs WR problem, if anyone answers Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, or Skyy Moore, you will fail this course.

We certainly don’t want that. Do any of you? Anyone? … Anyone?

Everything is A-OK

Rico Dowdle RB, Cowboys

He had twice as many touches as Ezekiel Elliott in Week 4, yet still needed a TD to deliver on fantasy interests. But if he gets that kind of volume steadily, he becomes a weekly Flex option.

Chase Brown RB, Bengals

Got a 50 percent share of the rushing workload Sunday for the first time this season. Zack Moss isn’t going away, but at least Brown is rising to Flex status.

Dontayvion Wicks WR, Packers

He is the Packers’ best big-play threat. And he dominated targets in Week 4 with 13. With a ceiling that includes that type of volume, he gets weekly starting consideration.

Tre Tucker WR, Raiders

He has seen a huge boost in the past two weeks, specifically with Davante Adams out. With the Raiders often trailing, Tucker should continue to get volume while Adams is sidelined.

What’s wrong, pal?

Breece Hall RB, Jets

For the moment, chalking up the Week 4 dud as an anomaly. But the increasing usage of Braelon Allen plus Hall’s pedestrian production is setting off alarms. No panic yet, just awareness.

Zamir White RB, Raiders

Despite double-digit carries in three of four games, White has yet to score double-digits in PPR this season. And Alexander Mattison is outperforming him in goal-line work. White is unplayable.

Jordan Addison WR, Vikings

We’ve changed our tune on the expectations of the Vikings offense. However, we think Addison’s splashy return on Sunday could elevate his trade value. Poke around to see if he can net you a weekly starter-level player.

He has back-to-back fantasy donuts. Worse, he has just two total targets over the two games. Even at a position as shallow as tight end, you can do better than zeroes each week. Time to pull eject lever on Andrews.