Rashee Rice balls out

Congratulations to all the fantasy managers out there who waited patiently for the breakout game from Chiefs WR Rashee Rice. The rookie hauled in 8 of his team-high 10 targets in Week 12 vs. the Raiders for 109 receiving yards and a TD. What’s exciting here is that his 71% route participation rate and 31.3% target share from this contest are Rice’s highest marks this season. Some of this bump in usage can be attributed to the fact that his teammate Mecole Hardman landed on IR with a thumb injury, and Kadarius Toney (ankle, hip) was inactive on Sunday, but that shouldn’t discount the fact that Rice stepped up to the plate for a Chiefs’ offense that’d been struggling of late. It’ll be intriguing to see if the Chiefs will maintain his usage next week in a decent matchup vs. the Packers (24th in pass defense DVOA in 2023). At the very least, Rice will be worth keeping on the flex monitor in lineups.