Since the Kansas City Chiefs traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill after the 2021 season, the team has been trying to solve a glaring need at wide receiver.
This need wasn’t as prevalent during the first season post-Hill since tight end Travis Kelce was still at the peak of his ability. They had strong complementary receivers in Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling alongside the dynamic ability of Kadarius Toney. Those guys rounded out the offense that was built around Kelce.
However, the glaring
lack of receiver talent became a bigger problem after 2022, when Kelce started to fall off. The Chiefs could no longer revolve the entire passing game around him because Kelce lost the athleticism to dominate the intermediate parts of the field. It was a struggle to generate explosive passes because he couldn’t win in that area. The rest of the receivers lacked the ability to win downfield, which cramped the offense.
Over the last three seasons, the Chiefs have had similar issues in their passing game. The team lacks the receiver talent to beat man coverage or win downfield to stretch defenses. The offense has devolved into quick game or Mahomes having to create every explosive pass with his scrambling. He can do that, but that’s not a sustainable style and puts too much on your quarterback.
The Chiefs have tried addressing receiver in the draft. During the 2023 NFL Draft, they drafted Rashee Rice in the second round. During the 2024 draft, they used their first-round pick on Xavier Worthy. The returns on these players have been mixed so far, for several reasons.
In training camp so far, Rice has been working back to 100% from a clean-up procedure on his knee in May. He has progressively worked more in full-team settings at practice. Worthy has been held out of practice since injuring his shoulder finishing a downfield catch over a week ago, but he has been on the field in pads in a limited fashion the last three practices.
What can we expect from these players in 2026? Let’s start with Rice:
Rashee Rice
Rice wasn’t overly productive as a rookie, putting up 36 catches, 420 yards, and four touchdowns over his first 10 games. The staff hadn’t found a clear role for Rice to succeed in, and he wasn’t getting as many snaps as some of the veteran receivers.
As the season went on, Rice’s role and production expanded. He nearly outproduced his first 10 games in his last five, putting up 35 catches, 411 yards, and two touchdowns to close the season. Rice had two 100-yard games during that time.
Rice’s role within the offense changed: the staff used him much more on underneath routes, such as screens or crossers, to get him the ball in space with blockers. Rice was the team’s best chance of generating explosive passes, but because his route running was limited downfield, everything had to be manufactured in short areas. Rice made it work with his burst and tackle-breaking ability.
To start his second season, it seemed like Rice’s production was about to pop. He played three games prior to injuring his knee and missing the rest of the season. In those games, Rice put up 24 catches, 288 yards, and two touchdowns. Extrapolating that production for 17 games would’ve put Rice at 136 catches, 1,632 yards, and 11 touchdowns. The Chiefs leaned even harder into using Rice as an underneath weapon where they could get the ball in his hands and let him create yards after the catch.
Rice missed the first six games of last season due to a suspension. He played eight games and put up solid stats of 53 catches, 571 yards, and five touchdowns. However, the stats overstate Rice’s impact in those games. Rice coming back put other players like Xavier Worthy in worse spots. Guys had to play out of position to fit Rice. He wasn’t quite as dynamic with the ball in his hands.
The hope was that over time, Rice would be able to develop the other parts of his game, particularly his route running. Rice has always been good in that short area, but beyond that, he’s been a problem. He struggles to play on the outside because he doesn’t have a developed release package. He has some stiffness in his route running and struggles to decelerate and separate on breaks. He doesn’t win downfield and struggles in contested catch situations.
That development has never come. He hasn’t expanded his route tree or learned to beat man coverage consistently. He’s forced to play in the slot, which puts Worthy in a worse spot. Rice’s route tree being within five yards is hard to build an offense around when he’s your #1 receiver. It limits your ability to stretch the field and get explosives.
For the Chiefs to have a better season in 2026, Rice is going to have to develop into things he hasn’t done yet. Can he do that? I’m skeptical about that at this point.
Xavier Worthy
I reviewed Worthy’s film recently, and I came away higher on him as a player. There will always be limitations with his game because he is small and can’t beat press, but there is more to his route running than I gave it credit for. He shows good footwork and change of pace to his routes to create separation.
Being healthier this year should allow him to run more underneath routes that get him the ball in his hands in space. Worthy isn’t the best in space because he struggles to break tackles, but he is explosive and can put a threat into a defense with his speed.
The question about Worthy is whether he can have a productive role in the offense with Rice and Kelce around. Since those two players have to play in the slot, it forces Worthy to handle more outside reps. Can he take a step there to be more viable? Or do the Chiefs decide to use Worthy more in the slot and live with the consequences elsewhere? I don’t doubt Worthy can have a viable role within the offense; it just feels hard with the current personnel.
The Bottom Line
Both Worthy and Rice had disappointing seasons in 2025 due to injuries, weaknesses in their game, and a poor fit.
Can that improve in 2026?
Can we finally see the vision for why the Chiefs drafted both of these players?
I’ll always have fit questions, but hopefully they can round out some of the concerns this year. If the Chiefs’ passing offense improves, it’s on these two players to improve and find a way to play together.
