It’s easy to remember the injury with Rashee Rice. His own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, inadvertently injured his knee diving into it on a freak play after all. What it’s easy to forget, however, is just how good Rashee Rice was over those first three weeks. Now that we have seen the Kansas City Chiefs return to the field with voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) with Rashee Rice out there, we are starting to remember.

Sure, there have been some talks about a potential suspension for Rashee Rice with his off-field issues. But, if he’s healthy and avoids major punishment, this is also the kind of guy that could win you your fantasy football league. Let’s take a quick look at Rice, his offseason progression, and his upside. 

 

 


 

Rashee Rice Is Healthy At Chiefs OTA Camp

Last week, for Week One of Chiefs OTAS, Rashee Rice missed practice with an illness. But we were told that, had he not been sick, he would have been good to go. And that we would see him at Chiefs practice this week.

That had some folks skeptical of where he was in his comeback. It was easy to speculate that maybe it was more than illness. But as Pete Sweeney of ArrowHead Price shows in the video below, Rice lived up to the expectations. Not only did he work out with the wide receiver group instead of the rehab group, he didn’t even have a knee brace on.
 

 

Rashee Rice Upside For Fantasy Football

We only got a small sample size of three games before Rice suffered his injury. But in those three games, he was electric. He actually led the league in receptions, catching 24 of his 29 targets, while being second in PPR fantasy points only to Malik Nabers (who got an absurd 36 targets over his first three games). Only Nico Collins, with 338 yards vs. his 288, had more yards than Rice as well.

Rice is currently going off the board as the WR15 in early best ball drafts on Underdog. That could shoot up in recent weeks as news trickles out about his health. The kind of trajectory he was on without the injury concerns would have easily had him going in the WR1 range and possibly as a first-round pick. Though suspension rumors could stop his climb from going too high.

 

 


 

Rashee Rice Possible Suspension For Off-Field Incidents

There is a very real possibility that Rashee Rice could face a suspension at some point. He’s now had multiple off-field incidents. The assault allegations from May of 2024 seem to have been resolved with the photographer not pressing charges. But a court case stemming from his fleeing the scene of a six-car crash could lead to punishment of some kind.

That said, Drew Davenport of The Auction Brief believes that there is a real chance that Rice does not get suspended THIS season. He’s been following the case closely to see if there has been a criminal indictment yet in the Dallas court, and, as of now, there has not. Davenport suggests that a backlog of the court and the complexity of the case could result in a delayed investigation before criminal charges are filed. If Rice doesn’t end up in court in 2025, there won’t likely be a suspension levied by the league until 2026 (if there is one). That has us hopeful that Rice will be available for this season and, if he’s healthy on top of that, he could be a fantasy football league winner.    
 

 

 

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