Last season was a rough season for the Chiefs, particularly on the offensive side. They dropped to 15th in points per game and 16th in yards per game, both of which were the worst marks of the Patrick Mahomes era.

However, it has been a good couple of weeks for Kansas City. It started with the addition of Kenneth Walker in free agency, giving Mahomes easily the most talented backfieldmate of his career. Now, NFL insider Adam Schefter reports that top receiver Rashee Rice will not face any further discipline stemming from accusations made by his former girlfriend.

What does this mean for the Chiefs’ offense? And how does it impact Rice for fantasy purposes? Let’s dive right in.

Rashee Rice Fantasy Football Outlook For 2026

Rice should serve as the Chiefs’ clear-cut No. 1 pass catcher next season. If that sounds like an appealing proposition for fantasy purposes, it’s because it is. In his eight games last season, Rice logged a significant 29% target share on just a 77% route participation. He averaged 18.0 PPR points per game during that stretch, good for the eighth-most at the receiver position.

There’s a chance that Rice can handle even more next year. A 77% route participation is on the low end for a WR1; only Puka Nacua averaged more PPR points per game from Weeks 7 through 15 with a lower route participation. It’s possible he’s on the field a bit more, which should result in an uptick in targets.

Rice could also see a higher percentage of his team’s looks. He had a 34% target share in his three full games in 2024-25, and he averaged more than 21 PPR points per game in those contests. He finished as a top-16 PPR receiver in all three weeks, and he amassed the second-most fantasy points at the position over that time frame.

The Chiefs haven’t added any real competition at receiver so far this offseason. They did bring back Travis Kelce and Tyquan Thornton, but both guys were already in the mix last year. With Kelce set to turn 37 years old next season, he could continue to become more of a role player than a featured part of the team’s passing attack.

Add it all up, and Rice looks like a slam-dunk top-10 option at the position. Dwain McFarland moved Rice up to WR6 following the latest development, and he’s the No. 12 flex option in his fantasy football rankings. That makes him a viable first-round target in fantasy drafts.

Kansas City Offense Impact With Rashee Rice News

Outside of Rice, the biggest winner here should be Mahomes. There’s no guarantee that Mahomes is ready to go at the start of next season, but if he is, he should maintain his status as one of the top quarterbacks in fantasy.

Even in a down year for the Chiefs’ offense overall, Mahomes put together one of his best fantasy seasons in quite some time. He was QB4 in terms of fantasy points per game last year, trailing only Josh Allen, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford. He had at least 18 fantasy points in nine of his first 12 starts before trailing off a bit before getting injured.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the Chiefs’ pass catchers. Specifically, Xavier Worthy looks like a risky pick at receiver, even in the double-digit rounds. He managed just a 17% target share in Rice’s eight games last season, and he averaged just 8.8 PPR points per game in those contests. He only eclipsed double-digits in two of those outings, and even then, he didn’t have more than 11.3. That gives him a pretty low floor and ceiling.

Kelce had a 20% target share in games with Rice last season, and he averaged 13.1 PPR points per game. That was good enough to make him TE6 in terms of per-game scoring. However, asking him to live up to that billing could be tough at his advanced age; we currently have him ranked as the consensus TE13.

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