Rashee Rice’s chances of being one of this year’s breakout players may be going off the rails before the season even starts. Dallas police are exploring his involvement in a car accident, potentially causing Rice to miss games in the upcoming season.
Police believe that a car owned by Rice was involved in a street race that ended in a six-car accident, with the drivers from both cars fleeing the scene. Reports indicate four people were injured in the accident, including two that were hospitalized. It’s an incident that could result in jail time for the drivers of the cars. Separately, the league could impose a suspension.
Rice has retained an attorney to attend to the issue. “On behalf of Rashee Rice, his thoughts are with everyone impacted by the automobile accident on Saturday,” attorney Royce West said in a statement. “Rashee is cooperating with local authorities and will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly.”
This is a situation that will need to play out, of course. Key is whether Rice was one of the drivers, and whether than can be proven. And there’s also the potential the NFL will delay taking any action until the legal proceedings are complete. (Alvin Kamara, recall, was involved in an assault in Las Vegas in February of 2023 but wasn’t suspended by the NFL until a year and a half later.)
But for now, it’s looking like there’s a good chance Rice will be missing some of the upcoming season.
That would be big, with him looking like the emerging No. 1 receiving option in Kansas City. Down the stretch in the just-completed season, he was putting up better numbers than Travis Kelce.
In the second half of the 2023 season, Rice averaged the 12th-best numbers among all wide receivers. He sat out KC’s Week 18 game, but in his previous seven he averaged 17.3 points using PPR scoring. He looks a lot better than any of that team’s other wide receivers (including free agent pickup Marquise Brown).
If KC thinks Rice might miss substantial time, they’ll likely be looking to add another significant body to the position. It’s a deep draft for wide receivers, should they want to go that route. (Kansas City has chosen receivers in the second round two years in a row – Skyy Moore and Rice.)
| TOP RECEIVERS, SECOND HALF OF SEASON | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Yds | Run | TD | PPR |
| CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 9 | 78 | 925 | 80 | 11 | 27.4 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 5 | 46 | 523 | 0 | 3 | 23.3 |
| Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 7 | 50 | 723 | -2 | 5 | 21.7 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 9 | 62 | 850 | 20 | 7 | 21.2 |
| Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 8 | 38 | 569 | 119 | 10 | 20.9 |
| Nico Collins, Hou. | 7 | 44 | 666 | 7 | 4 | 19.6 |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 5 | 32 | 503 | -12 | 2 | 18.6 |
| Puka Nacua, LAR | 8 | 41 | 659 | 85 | 4 | 17.4 |
| Davante Adams, L.V. | 8 | 52 | 571 | 0 | 5 | 17.4 |
| Jayden Reed, G.B. | 8 | 41 | 460 | 100 | 7 | 17.4 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 9 | 42 | 661 | 0 | 8 | 17.3 |
| Rashee Rice, K.C. | 7 | 47 | 560 | 0 | 3 | 17.3 |
| DJ Moore, Chi. | 8 | 49 | 629 | 21 | 4 | 17.3 |
| Amari Cooper, Cle. | 7 | 37 | 633 | 0 | 3 | 17.2 |
| Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 8 | 37 | 697 | 0 | 5 | 17.1 |
| Michael Pittman, Ind. | 7 | 51 | 559 | 0 | 1 | 16.4 |
| Chris Olave, N.O. | 7 | 37 | 560 | 0 | 3 | 16.1 |
| DeVonta Smith, Phi. | 7 | 39 | 533 | 0 | 3 | 15.8 |
| DK Metcalf, Sea. | 9 | 38 | 660 | 0 | 6 | 15.6 |
| Calvin Ridley, Jac. | 9 | 43 | 565 | 13 | 6 | 15.4 |
| Zay Flowers, Balt. | 7 | 32 | 386 | 44 | 5 | 15.3 |
| Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 6 | 32 | 492 | 2 | 1 | 14.6 |
| Brandin Cooks, Dall. | 9 | 37 | 492 | 12 | 6 | 13.9 |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 7 | 36 | 373 | -3 | 4 | 13.9 |
| Demarcus Robinson, LAR | 6 | 23 | 332 | 23 | 4 | 13.8 |
| JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 8 | 36 | 519 | 0 | 3 | 13.2 |
| Tee Higgins, Cin. | 5 | 15 | 328 | 0 | 3 | 13.2 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Ten. | 9 | 40 | 493 | 4 | 4 | 12.6 |
| Chris Godwin, T.B. | 9 | 43 | 556 | 24 | 2 | 12.6 |
| Darius Slayton, NYG | 8 | 27 | 454 | 0 | 4 | 12.1 |
—Ian Allan