The Chiefs drafted Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals in the fourth round thinking he could have a similar role in their offense to Rashee Rice.

Chiefs director of player personnel Ryne Nutt said Royals shows a lot of the same traits that Rice showed when the Chiefs made him a second-round draft pick in 2023.

“His game is very similar to Rashee’s,’’ Nutt said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN. “He’s got big hands, strong hands, and he’s very good after the catch. [Run after the catch] is a big part of our offense. That’s something we look for in receivers. We look for speed. The kid had that 4.40 [40-yard dash at the scouting combine]. We look for strength, and he has that. Then we look for route running and that’s probably an area where Rashee had to kind of develop a little bit, so we kind of thought they were similar in that respect.’’

Having a player who can do the same thing as Rice in the offense is important to the Chiefs because Rice is coming off a season-ending knee injury, and because Rice could face league discipline for an incident last year in which Dallas police said he raced his Lamborghini and caused a chain reaction collision that resulted in multiple injuries.

The Chiefs hope Rice is available, but if he isn’t, they hope Royals can fill his absence.

“With Rashee coming back from injury and trying to get right, the hopes are this kid can step in and try to get some playing time and help us out,” Nutt said.

If Royals can play like Rice, but stay healthy and stay in trouble off the field, he’s going to be an important target for Patrick Mahomes.