Rashee Rice Emerging As Productive Patrick Mahomes Target
It’s taken two offseasons, but the Chiefs are finally seeing a Tyreek Hill caliber receiver emerge in rookie Rashee Rice.
Unsurprisingly, the key to his integration has been learning how to play with quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Against Las Vegas on Sunday, Rashee Rice had season highs of 10 targets, eight receptions and 107 yards. As well as that, he grabbed his fifth touchdown catch of the season.
That performance is a platform on which Rashee Rice can further establish himself. It was the first time all season a Kansas WR had over 100 receptions or 100 yards in a game.
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Both Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid cited Rice’s in-game tuition as the reason for his chemistry with the quarterback.
“Getting better at understanding how to play against these crazy zones that these defenses throw at you and getting into space where you’re available,” Reid said.Â
“It’s not always a way that’s drawn up on a piece of paper, you’ve got to have a feel, and so when I say that, I’m saying he’s got a feel, and he’s building in all those different defenses and kind of seeing that and putting that together. There’ll keep being challenges this year, this will be a big challenge for him [against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night], this team here, but he’s getting better every week at that.”
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“There are little things here and there we might not be on the same page, but once we talk about it on the sideline, he doesn’t make that mistake again,” said Mahomes.
“That’s why you see he’s getting better and better throughout the season. It’s one thing to be able to beat man coverage when you come into the NFL because that’s played everywhere, but the zones are so much more complex than college. Sometimes they have to recognize it on the fly, so it’s just about getting better and better throughout the season.”
