Chiefs' Matt Nagy reveals playing time plans with Rashee Rice
The Kansas City Chiefs have had a bit of a receiver problem coming into the 2023-24 season. We didn't think there would be a problem until Week 1 happened, where the Detroit Lions beat the Chiefs by one point after several drops from key receivers.Weeks later, and it's somewhat still an issue, the receivers, that […]
The Kansas City Chiefs have had a bit of a receiver problem coming into the 2023-24 season. We didn't think there would be a problem until Week 1 happened, where the Detroit Lions beat the Chiefs by one point after several drops from key receivers.
Weeks later, and it's somewhat still an issue, the receivers, that is. The Chiefs' two best receivers have been Justin Watson and Rashee Rice, which is crazy considering the story about them both. Watson was a guy Chiefs fans originally didn't want to make the 53-man roster. And for Rice, he's a rookie in an Andy Reid system. As we saw last year with Skyy Moore, rookie receivers don't do much, or well, in this system.
Rice is the outlier. The only issue is he still isn't playing as much as we would all like him to. That may change soon.
"Yeah, I absolutely think he (Rashee Rice) is," offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said when asked about earning more playing time. "I think it's a growth process for him, and just as we've talked about, and I've talked about, this process for these wide receivers, learning these positions and learning what they're supposed to do within the route does take time. He's starting to understand the different levels that you see with the linebackers (and) safeties, finding different holes in zones.
"Also, his touchdown catch, of course, was a strong catch; he was physical, and he was fast. What I think we're seeing right now with Rashee is someone who's slowly gaining confidence in himself. He knows that we, as coaches, are slowly gaining more and more confidence in him. There's immense growth ahead of him, and I think that's the exciting part that we all see."
Last week against the Minnesota Vikings, Rice had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Against the Chicago Bears, he had two plays where he fell on the one-yard line, where both could have easily been touchdowns.
Rice is coming along nicely; honestly, he may very well be the Chiefs' best receiver. There is one problem, though – it seems Rice is losing playing time. Against the Lions in Week 1, he had 20 snaps on offense, then 12 in Week 2. In Week 3 against the Bears, he had 39, his career high in snaps. Week 4 saw Rice have 32; this last week, he had 20 again.
Hopefully, against the Broncos, we will see him used more. Denvers' defense is one of the worst in the league, if not the worst. This would be the perfect opportunity to see what he can do as a focal point in the offense.
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