NFL exec has high hopes for Chiefs' rookie because of one important detail
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted a guy that one NFL executive thinks could be great, and it is more about one thing the Chiefs do than what the player does. Let's be honest here: The Chiefs change the way players, specifically skill players, are looked at. I mean, last season they won a Super Bowl, […]
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted a guy that one NFL executive thinks could be great, and it is more about one thing the Chiefs do than what the player does.
Let's be honest here: The Chiefs change the way players, specifically skill players, are looked at. I mean, last season they won a Super Bowl, and Patrick Mahomes won an MVP without having a true number-one receiver. You can say that JuJu Smith-Schuster was, and he was great, but on any other team, he is a second option.
Their number one receiver was Travis Kelce. Their best receivers were Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Justin Watson, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. They won with that group. So now it is looked at like, if they can win with that group, we don't need to let them add good players. But, here is the catch: The Chiefs make receivers good, in a sense.
The offense they run helps get the best out of guys, and we saw that last year with Toney. The second-year receiver hadn't even had a receiving touchdown yet with the Giants. The Giants thought he was a lost cause. So, the Chiefs traded for him, and now he looks like he can be a number one guy, if healthy.
The same goes for their recent draft pick in Rashee Rice. The SMU receiver is a guy who a lot of teams didn't think would be worth the day one or day two pick because of where he played and the foot injury he played through. The Chiefs saw something in him, and now, NFL executives think it's going to work out for him because of one reason – Andy Reid.
After selecting defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah at No. 31, the Chiefs also selected the next offensive tackle chosen in the draft, trading up for Oklahoma’s Wanya Morris in the third round. In between, Kansas City used a second-round choice for SMU receiver Rashee Rice. “The defensive end wasn’t on my radar at all, just didn’t stick out through the process,” an exec said. “Morris is a pure pass protector. And then with Rashee Rice, that is the benefit of having Andy Reid. If you have a vision for a player and he believes in the vision, then he’ll make it come true. Best play caller in the league.” -Mike Sando, The Athletic
As I explained earlier, Kadarius Toney went through something very similar. Shoot, even Smith-Schuster went through something similar. He was cast off from Pittsburgh after a significant injury, where no one believed in his ability to lead a wide receiver group, and he did that. And, on top of doing it, he won a Super Bowl.
Now, Rice isn't a guy that dealt with any hardships in a previous season by being counted out or anything like that, he is just a guy that a lot of teams passed on when his 2022 season at SMU was more than amazing. He finished with over 1,300 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns, and all of that on a bad foot.
But, he didn't show much separation in his route running at that level, which is saying something considering the conference he played in. However, he did show one thing Reid loves, and it's a combination of speed and hands. If you throw the ball his way, Rice catches it, whether it's high, low, in front of him, or even behind him. They saw that in Skyy Moore as a receiver, and they saw that in Kadarius Toney.
Rice will succeed, even if it takes a season or two. I believe it, and one NFL executive believes it, all because they have Andy Reid as the head coach, who will set his guys up to succeed.
