For the first time in a long time, the Chiefs are licking their wounds after coming away from a season short a Super Bowl victory.
Beyond falling one game shy of a three-peat, though, Kansas City also has lingering questions on offense. The Chiefs finished middle of the pack — 15th — in scoring for the second straight year, and fell out of the top 10 in yards gained (16th) for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice is not among those concerned, rather he sees the only obstacle to the successes ahead being a few turns of the calendar.
“We got a lot of guys. We are deep in depth,” Rice said Saturday during a youth football camp, via KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. “Wide receiver group, we’re going to be explosive this year. We’re just excited to put on a show to be honest. We know it’s gonna be a show. Only thing in the way right now is time, so we’re just waiting patiently.”
If a show does take place come the regular season, Kansas City will be putting it on with a cast of recurring characters.
The Chiefs did little to change their WR corps over the offseason. They re-signed Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to one-year deals. Names like DeAndre Hopkins and Mecole Hardman departed in free agency. The team’s biggest addition at wideout came via the draft, fourth-rounder Jalen Royals.
Regardless, the group might still feel rejuvenated when back together for training camp and beyond. Rice was on his way to a breakout campaign last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of Kansas City’s Week 4 game. He had already posted 288 yards and two touchdowns on 24 catches in essentially three contests. He’ll return after going through grueling rehab, again looking to present wide-open looks underneath for Mahomes at will.
“It’s a hard process,” Rice said of his recovery, pointing out that he feels great now. “If you love the game enough, it’s nothing that can really take you away or discourage you that you can’t get the job done.”
Brown also missed a ton of time, sitting the first 15 games of the season due to injury, so there will likewise be something fresh about his return.
Those two and Xavier Worthy, who came on late during his rookie year, should lead the way. They didn’t play a single regular-season snap with all three on the field together, so there is some logic in Rice believing new, better results are on the horizon in 2025.
And even as he enters his age-36 season looking to have slowed down, tight end Travis Kelce will still be there to display his mind meld with Mahomes, finding soft spots and moving the chains as he is wont to do on crucial downs.
One of the unforeseen consequences of Rice’s injury was allowing him to fully realize how special playing alongside a future Pro Football Hall of Famer like Kelce is, and the third-year wideout noted he intends to soak in every moment left lining up together.
“I was real concerned,” Rice said about the possibility of Kelce retiring this offseason. “I ain’t gonna lie. That’s Trav. Me getting hurt last year was like kind of a wake-up call. I really wanted him to come back. Kind of realize the guys that you get to play with once it’s all over.”
So, renewed and healthy — plus whole with Kelce — but not all that different, Kansas City’s passing attack is running it back to try to make some fireworks.
Rice certainly feels it’s only a matter a time.
