Yahoo Fantasy Football on Rashee Rice
From the article
That should be enough but those designations assume that he'll have the same high-volume role he's always held and that's where I'm unconvinced...With Kenneth Walker III in town to provide a real-deal rushing game, some of those underneath "extension-of-the-run-game targets" could disappear, especially around the goal line.
STACKED’s take
Rice's WR11 ranking ignores volume risk from Kenneth Walker III and scheme changes.
Rice has been WR5 in points per game and WR12 since entering the NFL in 2023, but the "per game" metric does heavy lifting for someone who has only played in 12 contests during that time. While he's consensus-ranked WR11 in industry rankings and WR12 in Yahoo ADP, Matt Harmon is unconvinced those designations account for volume changes. Rice's 4.69 air yards per target ranks 112th among 112 wide receivers who have run 600+ routes since 2023, with a significant gap to 111th (Greg Dortch at 5.23). With Kenneth Walker III in town to provide a real-deal rushing game, some of Rice's underneath "extension-of-the-run-game targets" could disappear, especially around the goal line. The Chiefs were massively underwhelming last year while funneling so many short targets to Rice; they have every incentive to mix up their approach. Rice has shown little evidence on film he can win against man coverage and downfield to offset any loss in volume. Juggling his impressive past production against the future projection is tricky, and that's without mentioning off-field and injury red flags.
Rashee RiceWR · KCPlayer page — value, ADP, projections, and every insight