{"id":859822,"date":"2026-04-07T23:21:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859822\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:21:52","slug":"chiefs-could-draft-prospect-who-has-rashee-rice-comparisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/859822\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Could Draft Prospect Who Has Rashee Rice Comparisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Rashee\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is on track to start against the New York Giants in Week 3.<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> are in an odd position with their wide receiver corps.<\/p>\n

Their top three players at the position \u2013 Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Tyquan Thornton \u2013 are all very talented. However, they have each had inconsistent NFL<\/a> careers so far, and none are currently under contract for more than the next two years.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs will almost certainly use one of their nine 2026 NFL Draft picks on a receiver<\/a>, if not multiple. The question is, will any of them come from a premium selection? Kansas City has four picks in the top 75, and plenty of other needs throughout its roster.<\/p>\n

NFL Draft Prospect WR Omar Cooper Jr. Is Drawing Comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs Rashee Rice\"Omar<\/p>\n

GettyIndiana WR Omar Cooper Jr.<\/p>\n

The ESPN staff recently compiled a list of comparisons<\/a> between their favorite draft prospects and NFL pros. Here is why draft analyst Field Yates linked Cooper to Rice:<\/p>\n

\u201cCooper had a breakout season for Indiana in 2025, hauling in 13 receiving touchdowns. Over 50% of his receiving yards in 2025 were yards after the catch, the area of his game that best mirrors Rice\u2019s skill set. Cooper does an excellent job of setting up blocks. He\u2019s patient, has good vision and shows the overall contact balance to chew up yards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best NFL comps for the 2026 draft class \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

We asked experts to pick 15 perfect matches on top prospects \u2b07\ufe0f <\/p>\n

Cooper and Rice compare both stylistically and physically. Rice stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs in at 204 pounds, while Cooper comes in at 6-foot and 199 pounds. Each excel at producing yards after the catch, as their impressive combination of size and speed make them tough to bring down in the open field.<\/p>\n

Over his last two season at Indiana, Cooper recorded a total of 97 receptions for 1,531 yards and a whopping 20 touchdowns. He also added two rushing TDs on five carries. Cooper projects to be a Day 2 pick, going in either the second or third round. The Chiefs own the 40th and 74th picks in those rounds respectively.<\/p>\n

Can Rashee Rice Be Chiefs\u2019 No. 1 WR for the Foreseeable Future?\"Chiefs<\/p>\n

GettyChiefs WR Rashee Rice<\/p>\n

Rice\u2019s tenure in Kansas City has been very complicated. He had a stellar rookie season in 2023, as his role increased each week until he was the team\u2019s top receiver by the end of the season. He finished the year with 79 catches for 938 yards and seven TDs, helping the Chiefs win their second consecutive Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

It appeared Rice was going to establish himself as one of the best receivers in the NFL in 2024, posting 24 catches for 288 yards and two TDs in the first three games. Unfortunately, he collided with quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Week 4 and tore the LCL in his right knee, costing him the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Rice served a six-game suspension in 2025 for his role in a high-speed racing incident that caused a multi-vehicle crash, injuring several people. He produced well when he returned to the field, catching 53 passes for 571 yards and five TDs, but missed the final three games of the season due to a concussion.<\/p>\n

Rice has been involved in other off-the-field troubles, such as accusations of assault from a photographer in a Dallas nightclub, and from the mother of his children Dacoda Jones. While he has been cleared of those incidents<\/a>, that is certainly a disturbing pattern of issues that has piled up in a short amount of time. It will be crucial for Rice to stay out of trouble and healthy in 2026 if he wants a shot to secure a long-term contract and prolong his NFL career.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNick Roesch<\/a> Nick Roesch covers the NFL for Heavy Sports, with a focus on the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Chargers. He previously covered the Chiefs for USA TODAY Sports’ Chiefs Wire, and all 32 NFL teams for A to Z Sports. Roesch’s career in sports media spans 10 years. More about Nick Roesch<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Chiefs\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is on track to start against the New York Giants…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-859822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116366001545789391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}