When we started putting together the magazine, I was looking at Rashee Rice thinking he'd be a nice value. Arguably he's more of a value today (he'll be slipping much further in drafts!), while also being a lot riskier.
Rice underwent a cleanup procedure on his knee that's expected to sideline him for two months. It's May 20th, so that won't necessarily preclude him from being ready for training camp. And certainly, physically, he should be healthy for Week 1.
But Rice also tested positive for marijuana. Ordinarily that might not be a big deal, what with marijuana being legal in half the United States. But Rice is on probation for an early off-field incident, and one of the conditions of the probation was not using marijuana. So now the 30 days in jail that he'd been required to serve at some point will apparently be happening sooner.
There are a number of stories floating around; what the team might do, what the league might do, what the legal system might do. From what I can glean, he's not necessarily going to face an additional suspension (the 30 days in jail is not a new penalty), and the guy might still be legally (and physically) be fine for Week 1.
The bigger issue is that Rice, knowing that he needed to adhere to the terms of his probation, wasn't able to do so. Is it possible to select the guy and actually have him in a lineup for the full season? Some kind of physical and/or legal setback is a little more likely with him than the other top wideouts.
It's a shame, for various reasons, but I'll stick to the fantasy ones. On the field, the guy's been pretty good.
Table shows wide receivers to start at least half the time the last two years, sorted by PPR scoring. There's Rice in 5th, behind only the four wideouts who will be the top 4 drafted at the position in every draft this summer. Needless to say, he will not be selected that early.
| WIDEOUTS PER GAME, 2024-2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
| Ja'Marr Chase, Cin. | 33 | 7.6 | 94.5 | .76 | 21.8 |
| Puka Nacua, LAR | 27 | 7.7 | 100.2 | .56 | 21.6 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 34 | 6.8 | 78.4 | .68 | 18.8 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sea. | 34 | 6.4 | 86.0 | .47 | 18.0 |
| Rashee Rice, K.C. | 12 | 6.4 | 71.6 | .69 | 17.9 |
| Malik Nabers, NYG | 19 | 6.7 | 77.6 | .49 | 17.4 |
| Drake London, Atl. | 29 | 5.8 | 75.5 | .56 | 16.7 |
| Davante Adams, LAR | 28 | 5.2 | 66.1 | .80 | 16.6 |
| Tee Higgins, Cin. | 27 | 4.9 | 65.1 | .79 | 16.4 |
| Nico Collins, Hou. | 27 | 5.1 | 78.6 | .53 | 16.3 |
| CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 29 | 6.1 | 78.3 | .32 | 16.1 |
| A.J. Brown, Phi. | 28 | 5.2 | 74.4 | .50 | 15.6 |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 34 | 5.5 | 75.9 | .35 | 15.2 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 22 | 4.7 | 62.4 | .64 | 15.1 |
| Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 24 | 5.7 | 62.5 | .47 | 14.8 |
| George Pickens, Dall. | 31 | 4.9 | 75.1 | .39 | 14.7 |
| Chris Olave, N.O. | 24 | 5.5 | 65.1 | .42 | 14.5 |
| Terry McLaurin, Was. | 27 | 4.4 | 62.1 | .59 | 14.2 |
| Chris Godwin, T.B. | 16 | 5.2 | 58.5 | .46 | 13.8 |
| Brian Thomas, Jac. | 31 | 4.4 | 64.2 | .44 | 13.6 |
| Jameson Williams, Det. | 32 | 3.8 | 66.2 | .47 | 13.5 |
| Zay Flowers, Balt. | 34 | 4.7 | 66.8 | .29 | 13.5 |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 34 | 4.6 | 61.7 | .45 | 13.4 |
| DeVonta Smith, Phi. | 30 | 4.8 | 61.4 | .40 | 13.4 |
| Stefon Diggs, N.E. | 25 | 5.3 | 60.4 | .32 | 13.3 |
| Ladd McConkey, LAC | 32 | 4.6 | 60.6 | .42 | 13.2 |
| Jauan Jennings, S.F. | 30 | 4.4 | 53.9 | .51 | 13.0 |
| Jakobi Meyers, 2tms | 30 | 5.3 | 60.7 | .24 | 13.0 |
| Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 21 | 4.9 | 58.3 | .33 | 12.9 |
| DK Metcalf, Pitt. | 30 | 4.2 | 61.4 | .40 | 12.7 |
| Tetairoa McMillan, Car. | 17 | 4.1 | 59.6 | .41 | 12.6 |
| Wan'Dale Robinson, NYG | 33 | 5.6 | 51.9 | .21 | 12.1 |
| DJ Moore, Chi. | 34 | 4.4 | 48.5 | .41 | 12.1 |
I'm not going to say that Rice will miss Week 1. The league has already suspended him for the incident he violated probation for, so not a given they'll slap him on the wrist again for what seems to be a pretty minor offense. But it's possible.
Doesn't seem like he can be drafted with much confidence he'll be available all year. On top of the fact we can't be certain Patrick Mahomes (knee) will be fully healthy in Week 1, risk upon risk in selecting him.
--Andy Richardson
