Rashee Rice is back -- and his return could change everything for the Chiefs' offense and fantasy managers

It was doom and gloom for the Kansas City Chiefs through the first two weeks of the regular season. The franchise dropped to 0-2 as murmurs of the dynasty's demise began to spread, but it has since landed on its feet again. After throttling the Detroit Lions in Week 6, K.C. is suddenly back to .500 on the year -- a game behind both the Chargers and Broncos for first place in the AFC West -- and the offense is getting a substantial boost with the return of Rashee Rice. 

The standout receiver has finished serving his six-game suspension and will make his season debut in Week 7 when Kansas City hosts the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. This will be Rice's first game since Week 4 of last season, when knee and hamstring injuries led to season-ending surgery.

With that injury and this suspension behind him, Rice could be an X-factor in the overall landscape of the AFC, as the 2023 third-round pick has shown flashes of being a true No. 1 receiver when he's been on the field. 

What the Chiefs are saying about Rashee Rice's return

Andy Reid to reporters on Monday on Rashee Rice's role upon his return: "Listen, I know he's been working like crazy. The rule states that we can't work with him, but I know he's been working out hard. I think it's just a matter of getting him back in the swing. I've got to see it to kind of work through it, but I know he's in good shape; that's the one thing I do know. I think that'll be important, him coming back in there, getting him with Patrick, kind of getting them on the same page, and that whole deal. We'll see how all that works out. We haven't put the game plan in yet, so we're working through all that now."

Andy Reid to reporters on Wednesday on Rashee Rice returning to practice this week: "Yeah, I think he's excited to get going. I think getting through practices here will be good for him. Kind of get back into the swing of things. We'll see how everything goes from there, but he's been working hard and he's in good shape."

Patrick Mahomes to reporters on Wednesday on Rashee Rice rejoining an offense and his workload expectations: "We've gotten better and better. Adding a guy like Xavier [Worthy] back and then Rashee back, we'll just continue to hopefully improve what we can do. All you can ask for is to get better each and every week, and I feel like we're doing that."

"He's going to want to be out there on every single play. That's just the mentality that he has. I think it's going to be our job as teammates and coaches to kind of build him back the right way, but it's going to be hard to keep him off the field for sure."

Xavier Worthy to reporters on Wednesday on getting Rashee Rice back in the receiver room and what he does for the offense: "Rashee's our guy. Like Coach Reid said, the room's really close, so just having him back in the building is good to have him around. ... He's just another threat. Everybody eats. It's more eyes going on somebody else. I feel like everybody in this offense can make a play and go win on one-on-ones, so it's just another explosive guy in this offense."

How the offense will improve with Rashee Rice in the fold

We cannot overstate how good Rice has been for the Chiefs in his young career. The wideout has the most receptions (103) in the first 20 games of his career in franchise history. While it was a small sample size (three full games), Rice's 2024 campaign looked like it was going to result in a Year 2 breakout as one of the more prolific receivers in the NFL. 

• Week 1 vs. Baltimore: 7 receptions (9 targets), 103 yards
• Week 2 vs. Cincinnati: 5 receptions (6 targets), 75 yards, 1 touchdown
• Week 3 at Atlanta: 12 receptions (12 targets), 110 yards, 1 touchdown

Rice went down with his knee injury just four snaps into Kansas City's Week 4 matchup against the Chargers and wasn't targeted. Still, that three-game pace from last year would result in an eye-popping 136 catches, 1,632 yards receiving and roughly 11 receiving touchdowns over a full 17-game schedule. 

If you want a bigger sample size, here's Rice's 17-game pace based on his past nine healthy games: 126 catches for 1,522 yards and nine touchdowns. No matter how you slice it, you're looking at one of the busiest receivers in the NFL. Rice's role will largely be as a possession receiver with most of his targets coming inside of 10 yards and even behind the line of scrimmage. 

Here's a look at Rice's career passing bins (via TruMedia), which shows exactly that.

Rice's presence will likely make star tight end Travis Kelce more of a situational, red zone player in the passing attack, as Rice will likely work in similar windows and eat at his production. His return will also send JuJu Smith-Schuster back to being a depth piece. 

Rice working over the middle could open up deep-shot opportunities for Patrick Mahomes with downfield threats like Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown. Sunday's game against the Raiders will mark the first time the trio of Rice, Worthy and Brown will play together since Worthy was drafted in 2024.

Betting impact of Rashee Rice's return

• Rashee Rice to record 750+ receiving yards (+185)
• Rashee Rice to record 1,000+ receiving yards (+800)

The Chiefs' recent surge has brought them back as the betting favorites to win the AFC West at +125 on FanDuel Sportsbook. They also possess the second-best odds to win the AFC at +320, only behind the Buffalo Bills. If Rice can return to form relatively quickly and keep the Chiefs offense on the ascent, those odds will only get shorter. 

Meanwhile, Rice is currently +185 to record at least 750 yards receiving on the season and +800 to record at least 1,000 yards receiving, per FanDuel. With 11 games left on Kansas City's schedule, Rice would need to average roughly 68 yards per game to get to 750 and about 91 to get to 1,000 yards. During that small three-game sample size last year, Rice averaged 96 yards per game. 

Rice will not be eased back into action; the Chiefs are set to allocate a heavy workload for him as soon as possible, per ESPN. If that's to be believed and he remains healthy for the final 11 games, both the 750- and 1,000-yard marks are worth a sprinkle.

Bet Rashee Rice props at FanDuel Sportsbook, where new users get $300 in bonus bets with a winning $5 wager.

Fantasy impact of Rashee Rice's return

From a fantasy perspective, Rice was in all likelihood drafted in most leagues, and managers will be hard-pressed to trade him now after enduring six weeks of him on their bench. Rice is rostered in 97% of CBS Sports Fantasy Football leagues, and that number should be a clean 100%. He's being started in 62% of leagues, which is another figure that should be much higher. That's particularly true in PPR leagues if he is expected to get the lion's share of targets in a Mahomes-led offense. 

Rice's return could slow down Kelce's target volume, but the tight end is still worth starting given the scarcity at his position. Bye week-fillers like Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton are droppable in my eyes, while Worthy and Brown become even more boom-or-bust plays each week.