Former Chiefs Star Makes Massive Prediction on Rashee Rice’s Career

Ever since they traded away Tyreek Hill back in 2022, the Kansas City Chiefs have been searching for a clear top-tier weapon at wide receiver. The closest thing they’ve discovered to this point is Rashee Rice, although that evaluation is complicated.

For starters, Rice suffered a season-ending knee injury a year ago. Not only did that cut his budding breakout short, but he’s also now facing a possible suspension from the NFL. Rice’s arrow is pointing up at Chiefs training camp, but some things remain out of his control at this juncture.

That isn’t stopping a former Kansas City star from praising Rice. On an episode of FS1’s “First Things First” program, now-retired safety Tyrann Mathieu made a bold claim about how Rice’s career could unfold.

Tyrann Mathieu Gives Rashee Rice the Ultimate Praise

According to Mathieu, Rice is tracking to be an elite-level receiver for the next decade.

“I think a lot of people forget about Rashee Rice,” Mathieu said. “I think he’s going to be one of the 10 best wide receivers in our league for the next 10 years. I think he’s really special. If they’re able to get him back, and obviously [Travis] Kelce, I think they’ll be just fine going forward.”

Rice has certainly shown that upside at times. As a rookie, for example, he had a downright excellent stretch of play from Weeks 12-17. In those six games, he averaged 7 receptions, 86 yards and half a touchdown per game. Extrapolated out for a full season, that’d be good for just under 122 catches, 1,468 yards and between 8 and 9 scores. That’s top-shelf stuff.

Rice then came back even better to start last season. The Chiefs’ former second-round pick exploded prior to his injury, hauling in 24 passes for 288 yards in Weeks 1-3. The aforementioned knee injury in Week 4 ended what looked to be a promising season. Rice was knocked out of Kansas City’s win against the Los Angeles Chargers after just four offensive snaps.

Given the continued aging of Kelce, it isn’t crazy to expect Rice to once again be the club’s primary receiving choice. Asking 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy or 2024 offseason signing Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to be that is a lot. The former has star-level potential, but he must be more consistent. If Rice is on the field, he’s the best wideout on the roster.

That’s the thing to monitor. A suspension would theoretically delay Rice’s statement season again.

Assessing the Long-Term Outlook of Chiefs’ Wide Receiver Room

As currently constructed, this Chiefs receiver room isn’t a sustainable unit. Rice has two seasons left on his rookie deal, including this one. There’s a chance that by the end of the season, roughly a third of the start to his career will have been spent on the sideline. Worthy, being a first-rounder, has four years left when weighing the possibility of a fifth-year option. Rookie Jalen Royals is another four-year piece. That’s the good news.

Elsewhere, not so much. JuJu Smith-Schuster, who suffers from seemingly chronic knee injuries, is back on a one-year contract. The same can be said for Brown, who’s averaged fewer than 10 games played in the last three campaigns. 2022 second-round pick Skyy Moore is in the last year of his rookie-scale contract.

Things don’t get a ton better the deeper down the depth chart you go. Tyquan Thornton, an early camp darling, is an unrestricted free agent next spring. Perhaps the only saving grace is special teams ace Nikko Remigio being an exclusive rights free agent in 2026. There’s no reason not to bring him back.

For the sake of the wideout room (and the sake of quarterback Patrick Mahomes), the Chiefs need Rice to be a mainstay for years to come.