The Kansas City Chiefs enjoyed an offensive explosion in a 31-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in a divisional win on Sunday afternoon. The Chiefs were led by a significant performance from Patrick Mahomes and the passing game.
Kansas City’s receiving corps welcomed back star wideout Rashee Rice, who made his season debut following a six-game suspension to open the season. Rice shined in his first outing of the season, playing a massive role in an efficient performance from the Chiefs’ passing attack.
Rice carved out a significant chunk of the passing offense’s target share, hauling in seven of his 10 targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns. He finished Week 7 second among Chiefs pass-catchers in receiving yards, leading the team in both receptions and targets.
HIs two-touchdown day helped him to a 23.2-point performance in fantasy football among PPR leagues and has raised immense optimism among fantasy owners. His promising season debut has the fantasy world deciphering how high his ceiling is over the remainder of the season in one of the NFL’s top passing offenses.
Rice’s first game of the season marked an electric start, but is he already a top-five wideout in fantasy football?
Despite a favorable matchup versus a banged-up Raiders defense, Kansas City’s offensive performance presents encouragement from a fantasy football standpoint. Seven different Chiefs receivers managed to eclipse 25 receiving yards, but Rice emerged with dominant volume in the receiving corps.
He saw nearly 30% of the total target share in an explosive passing game. Rice returned to Kansas City’s offense at an ideal time, as Patrick Mahomes and company begin to find their midseason form.
While Rice’s fantasy ceiling is sky-high given his cemented role among the team’s group of pass-catchers, he must sustain such production to enter the top-five conversation. Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase produced the top fantasy performance among the position group, with 38.1 points among PPR leagues.
Over the course of the season, Seattle Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba has produced arguably the most consistent fantasy production of any receiver, along with the injured Puca Nacua, who posted five consecutive performances with 22.0 or more points prior to a Week 6 injury.
Those three wideouts emerge as the obvious options ahead of Rice and fantasy, but his volume presents reason to believe he can climb into the top-five before the season comes to a close. He sees reliable volume and carves out significant volume near the endzone for encouraging touchdown production.
