Rashee Rice finished Week 1 as the WR36, the last spot inside a starter's range in a 12-team league, and on the surface that looks survivable. He caught both of his targets for 19 yards and a 13-yard touchdown in Kansas City's 31-10 win over Denver.
Look underneath it. According to PFF, Rice was targeted on 6.9 percent of his routes Monday night. Last season he was at 27 percent or better in every game but one, and his worst game was 22.6 percent. Monday was not a slightly quiet night. It was less than a third of his worst game from a year ago.
Some of it was the game plan. Kansas City leaned on the run in Patrick Mahomes' first game back from his knee injury. Kenneth Walker III carried 23 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns, and Mahomes threw for 184. When the Chiefs threw, they spread it out: Xavier Worthy drew six targets and Travis Kelce drew five, both more than Rice.
The case against this take is real. A team easing its quarterback back from a torn ACL is going to run the ball, and passing volume should climb as Mahomes gets more comfortable. Rice was also coming off his own knee surgery with limited camp reps, so a slow start is not a surprise. By October this could read as an overreaction.
But fantasy lineups are set one week at a time, and right now every number except the touchdown says the Chiefs are not running their offense through Rice. Remove the score and he had 3.9 points. Our sheet has him as a SIT against Indianapolis. He needs to earn his way back into your lineup rather than start there because of his name.