On Monday, Head Coach Andy Reid gave an update on the Rashee Rice situation, a hint at possible draft targets, and his overall state of the team as OTA’s begin with virtual sessions.
The NFL Draft is just nine sleeps away, and the Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to add youth to the roster. In addition, they’ve begun the virtual stage of Organized Team Activities as they prepare for the 2024 NFL season.
One of the most critical components to the Chiefs roster will be the breakdown of the wide receivers. With Rashee Rice in limbo, Head Coach Andy Reid was clear about his expectations for the upcoming season.
“There’s no real participation other than probably Zoom, so he’ll (Rashee Rice) participate in that, but other than that , we don’t have anything going on here that he would be involved with. To answer your question, he’s participating in Zoom. Just a reminder on this: It’s voluntary as we go forward; that’s another part of this,” Coach Reid indicated.
Reid and the Chiefs are monitoring Rice’s legal matters. Yesterday, two of the victims in the six-car crash filed an $11M suit against Rice and the other driver, Teddy Knox. It’s unclear when Rice will either return to workouts with Patrick Mahomes in Texas or return to Kansas City when OTA sessions resume next month.
Until Rice emerged as a legitimate option for Mahomes, the rest of the group, outside of Justin Watson, struggled to gain footing in 2023. Skyy Moore took several steps back, and injuries, drops, and a lack of concentration made Kadarius Toney ineffective.
However, his head coach remains a strong supporter of Toney, who appears to get a chance to prove that last year was a fluke.
“Kadarius (Toney) is arguably one of the most talented guys we have on the team. It’s just a matter of staying healthy and being able to stay on the field,” Reid said. “You always hear about the reliability, accountability, all of those things that go into it so I’m expecting him to come back ripping and ready to go. It’s great that’s he’s down there working with Pat (Mahomes) and putting the work in so that’s a positive. Listen, we like Kadarius it’s just a matter of having him on the field.”
That tells me Reid intends to give Toney every chance to succeed. Further, Toney has been participating in the Mahomes mini camp in Texas, which surprised many. It does appear that Toney and Reid understand the work ethic and expectations needed to take on a more significant role in the offense in 2023.
On the flip side, one player who does NOT need to worry about playing time is Hollywood Brown. He’s been working with Mahomes for weeks and is eager to understand the Chiefs’ offense and be ready for the regular season. Mahomes has been impressed with Brown’s attitude thus far.
“With Hollywood (Brown), I think you obviously see the speed, you see the speed instantly. What I’ve liked so far is how hard he works, he’s been at the workouts, been at the route running and he wants more,’ Mahomes stated.
“He wants to continue to push himself more and more, and I think he has a hell of a great role in this offense the way he’s able to run routes, the way he’s able to stretch the field. I think he’ll be even different than you’ve seen him before because I think we can utilize him in different ways (than) I think he’s been utilized in yet.”
So what does all this mean?
It’s too early to tell because the Chiefs will likely draft at least one wide receiver or possibly two in the early stages of the NFL draft. Either way, Rice and Toney are still in the picture for 2024.
