Fantasy football championships are won by finding value later in drafts and avoiding busts earlier on. Avoiding early-round busts is essential when building a championship-caliber fantasy team. One player who stands out as a dud, bound to disappoint fantasy football managers in 2025, is Rashee Rice, WR.
Currently being drafted as the WR15, Rice caught the attention of many fantasy gurus at the start of last season. In the three games Rice played in 2024, the receiver saw a whopping 31.5% target share alongside a 41.2% first-read rate. Being the WR1 for a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is a factor that will never go unnoticed. It’s easy to reminisce on the fantasy gold that once was Tyreek Hill, WR, and Mahomes.
Throughout the entirety of his NFL career, Rice has only finished as WR1 four times on a weekly basis. Although he got off to a hot start in the first few weeks of 2024, there has been no long-term production that indicates his ADP is fruitful.
The few weeks of production he gave fantasy managers last year came when Marquise Brown, WR, was injured and Xavier Worthy, WR, was getting his first snaps at the professional level. In addition to the absence of the majority of the receiving corps, starting running back Isaiah Pacheco was also out of the lineup due to injury. The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be heading into 2025 at full stretch, something fans have truly never seen Rice be a part of.
Rice is coming off a gruesome injury. While reports indicate he has fully recovered and is ready to roll for 2025, fantasy managers should still proceed with caution, as many players who suffer from an injury of this magnitude are never the same.
Rice is more than likely going to be the WR1 for the Chiefs this year. Despite the temptation to get some shares of this primetime offense, fantasy football managers would be better off going in a different direction in the third round of the draft in 2025. Reflecting on the players’ production and the lack of passing volume in the offense, there is no logical reason fantasy managers should be investing in Rice this early in the draft.
*The statistics used in this article are based on the half-PPR format provided by fantasypros.
*For insight into another fantasy football busts, click here.
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