Rich Cooling said second-tier contenders should kick the tires on Rashee Rice because his current dynasty price bakes in every bit of off-field and usage risk but almost none of the ceiling. Rice’s value has been "depleted" after the offseason headlines and uncertainty about how Kansas City will spread targets, yet Cooling reminded listeners the wideout already produced WR1 stretches as a rookie and would vault into the top-five conversation if he captures Patrick Mahomes’ undisputed WR1 role. For rosters that are one tier below the true juggernauts, Cooling argued the asymmetric payoff—top-five upside at a mid-WR3 acquisition cost—is worth embracing the suspension or volatility risk.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound said he is still drafting Rashee Rice despite news of a third civil suit stemming from the Dallas freeway crash. Pat expects the case to crawl through the courts—he noted that "any criminal cases take a long time" and predicted Rice’s lawyers will push hearings deep into 2025. Because the league typically waits for legal resolution before handing down discipline, Pat doubts a 2024 suspension materializes. He even joked that "they all get off in KC," underscoring his confidence in a lenient outcome. Pat hopes nervous drafters shave a few ADP spots off Rice, but stressed that managers should keep clicking him at cost, treating any dip as found equity in best-ball rooms that reward regular-season ceiling games.

Andy Holloway labeled Rashee Rice a pure wild card and said he will not pay the current fourth-round price tag. Rice’s celebrated late-season surge lasted only three games before his knee injury, yet that tiny sample has him going ahead of Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown in many drafts. Holloway pointed out that 68 % of Rice’s rookie receiving yards came after the catch, a rate he attributes to soft single coverage while defenses bracketed Travis Kelce. With Kelce turning 36 and losing a step, Holloway anticipates different coverage shells and fewer free slant windows. He also flagged Rice’s ongoing six-to-nine-month knee rehab, noting that lost offseason reps often stunt year-two development as a route runner. The Chiefs invested a first-round pick in Worthy and signed Brown, both of whom threaten target share. Holloway pegs Rice’s ceiling around WR7-8 if everything breaks perfectly with Patrick Mahomes, but his projected floor sits outside the top-24. He prefers Worthy at cost and will only take Rice if he slips into Round 6 of best-ball or traditional drafts.

Davis Mattek argued that Rashee Rice can post an Amon-Ra St. Brown style WR1 season even if the film crowd hates how it looks. He pulled up 2023 numbers that show Rice actually edged St. Brown in targets-per-route, matched him in target share when both were on the field, carried a slightly deeper average depth of target and produced comparable air-yard totals—all while receiving zero end-zone looks. Mattek’s thesis is that Andy Reid will, in his words, “spam what works,” meaning Rice’s underneath slant/option diet should remain Patrick Mahomes’ first read even once Travis Kelce and Marquise Brown return to full health. Mattek still has Rice as a heavy draft target in both best-ball and season-long formats until the market pushes him into the mid-second round, a point at which he would re-evaluate.

Davis Mattek urged drafters to scoop up Rashee Rice while legal and injury uncertainty still prices him in the late-third. Mattek expects Rice’s ADP to rocket into the mid-second once the LCL rehab looks normal and the NFL clarifies discipline (or lack thereof). He cited Andy Reid’s history of "spamming what works" and pointed to Mike Clay’s 14-game projection of 112 targets, 84-946-6 receiving despite only 30 projected Chiefs passing TDs. Mattek noted Rice would leapfrog names like Drake London and Tee Higgins once the market gains clarity, giving drafters a rare pre-camp discount on Kansas City’s clear No. 1 wideout in both best-ball and redraft.

Buck warned against taking Rashee Rice at his current ADP near the 2-3 turn (around pick 30). He argued Rice’s early-2024 target spike was a mirage created by a "broken" Chiefs offense that had Travis Kelce and Hollywood Brown sidelined and Isaiah Pacheco hurt, forcing Kansas City to use Rice as an extension of the run game. With Kelce and Brown healthy and the Chiefs determined to re-establish the ground attack, Buck expects Rice’s target share to fall. He added that Rice still runs a limited slant/option-heavy route tree, is rehabbing an LCL tear, and faces a possible league suspension. Given those layered risks, Buck believes Rice offers more downside than upside at a second-round price and prefers fading him in both best-ball and season-long formats.

Davis Mattek said Rashee Rice is still worth an aggressive reach, taking him at pick 21 and calling him “live to be a 1-2 turn pick.” Mattek reminded listeners that Rice averaged 21.5 fantasy points per game before Patrick Mahomes hurt his knee last year and believes the market over-reacted to both the injury fallout and Rice’s offseason legal trouble. Team reports suggest Rice is fully healthy and any court-related suspension is unlikely to hit until 2025, meaning drafters get a full season of top-end production in 2024 at a two-round discount. Mattek framed Rice as one of his favorite “get your guys” selections in Best Ball drafts.

Tyler Sullivan called Rashee Rice his favorite Comeback Player of the Year bet at 10-to-1. Even with Kansas City able to ease Rice in behind Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and Travis Kelce, Sullivan stressed that Rice already earned Patrick Mahomes’ trust as a rookie. In his three full games last season, Rice topped 100 yards twice; extrapolated over 17 games that pace equals 136 receptions, 1,600 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Sullivan believes a late-season surge is likely once Rice is fully healthy, turning the Chiefs back into a top-flight passing attack for both bettors holding award tickets and fantasy managers seeking second-half league-winning upside.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound advised pouncing on Rashee Rice at his current late-third ADP while legal and injury headlines trend favorably. Pat noted Rice is already inching toward the 2/3 turn after opening in the 40s and believes clean camp reports could push him firmly into the second round. He downplayed offseason legal worries—‘I do not grind the law stuff’—and pointed to practice-field clips showing full-speed cutting as evidence the toe issue is behind him. With Patrick Mahomes still lacking an alpha wideout and Kansas City’s coaching staff publicly reiterating Rice’s WR1 path, Pat framed the pick as classic closing-line value: draft now before the market corrects.

Davis Mattek said Rashee Rice is a slam-dunk Round-3 buy because the two things scaring drafters—his knee and the Dallas street-racing case—look overblown. Public medical reports say Rice would be healthy enough to play today, and attorney Drew Davenport noted the criminal charge is not even on a docket while the civil trial set for June will almost certainly get pushed. Mattek expects any NFL suspension to be short, reminding best-ball managers that Week 17 exposure matters more than September snaps. He pointed to Rice’s outrageous late-season usage: over the final three games he averaged 21.5 fantasy points, trailed only Puka Nacua in rookie yards-per-route-run, and earned targets at a Drake London–level clip while sharing the field with Xavier Worthy. Playing every playoff week with Patrick Mahomes, Rice carries true league-winning upside, and Mattek called him the easiest third-round click on the board.

Jason Moore told listeners not to overthink Rashee Rice’s legal situation and scoop him up as a rock-solid WR2. Moore is "very much not at all nervous" about Rice’s role when he is on the field, noting that league insiders believe a suspension could be pushed to 2026. Rice commanded a 25 % target share over his final ten healthy games, routinely operating in Kelce’s short-to-intermediate sweet spot. Moore projects a similar share even after the arrivals of Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown because Rice is simply better at the underneath YAC game the Chiefs lean on. If Rice plays 17 games, Moore’s stat line is 92-1,105-8, which would have landed as WR19 last season. Current ADPs in the mid-30s at the position give drafters multiple rounds of profit potential in season-long and best-ball formats.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound advised drafters to keep taking Rashee Rice a few spots ahead of his current ADP because he anticipates steady upward movement once the market accepts that Rice is unlikely to miss 2024 games. Pat cited reports that the next court date has been pushed to November and expects further delays, giving Rice a clear path to be on the field all season. He reminded the chat that Rice posted a 20% targets-per-route rate and led Kansas City in red-zone targets from Week 10 on as a rookie. In a Chiefs offense still searching for a true WR1 behind Travis Kelce, Pat believes Rice’s ceiling is nowhere near priced in and is aggressively building exposure before the ADP spike hits.

Erik Beimfohr said he is actively hammering Rashee Rice at his current 50-ish ADP on DraftKings because the market is still pricing in a long absence that now looks unlikely. Beimfohr pointed to two separate bullish data points: (1) Rice is already running routes in rehab sessions, suggesting the knee tear is ahead of schedule, and (2) legal analysts expect any league discipline to drag into 2026, meaning a 2025 suspension is improbable. Rice posted 2.21 yards per route run as a rookie and a ridiculous 3.16 in a tiny sophomore sample before the injury, numbers that blew teammate Xavier Worthy’s 1.5 YPRR out of the water. If training-camp reports confirm a full workload, Beimfohr believes Rice’s price will rocket into the early-third and possibly back to the second round, where he was going in last winter’s Big Board contest. He wants to be overweight before that steam, calling Rice “an early-third at worst, maybe a fringe Round-2 pick” if he is a full-go by August.

Erik Beimfohr said the market is sleeping on Rashee Rice because drafters assume a multi-game suspension that is unlikely to materialize this season. Citing cap expert Drew Davenport’s legal-process thread, Beimfohr noted the case is crawling through the courts—making it improbable the NFL hands down discipline before January of 2026. Rice is already ahead of schedule in his injury rehab, so the realistic range of outcomes now includes 15-plus games in 2025 without a Pup stint. That makes his mid-fourth-round ADP a steal compared to teammate Xavier Worthy and other WR2 types like Rome Odunze. Beimfohr likes pairing Rice with Worthy at the 3/4 turn, calling it an easy Mahomes backdoor stack that opponents cannot always execute. He reminded listeners that Rice posted a 25-percent target per route rate as a rookie—identical to rookie-season CeeDee Lamb—and operated as Kansas City’s primary YAC weapon down the stretch. With no guaranteed suspension and Pat Mahomes entering year two in the new spread-heavy scheme, Beimfohr labeled Rice a slam-dunk positive-EV pick in Best Ball and season-long formats.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound liked the decision to make Rashee Rice a team’s first wide receiver in the current draft room, calling it “a value” because there is no official suspension and Rice is reportedly healthy for the start of camp. Pat noted that the market continues to bake in a multi-game ban that may never materialize, pushing Rice several picks below where a healthy Chiefs WR1 with proven chemistry with Patrick Mahomes would normally go. Grabbing him in the mid-40s supplies cheap exposure to the league’s most explosive passing attack and shores up early wide-receiver production for drafters who start RB-heavy.

Pat Fantasy Dog Pound argued Rashee Rice is still a screaming value at his late-Round-3 price. Rice’s court date for the Dallas street-racing incident is reportedly set for November, making an NFL suspension during the 2024 fantasy season highly unlikely. Pat added that beat reporters have already spotted Rice running full-speed plyometrics on the repaired leg, signaling he will be a full participant when camp opens. If those two risk factors evaporate, Pat projects Rice to climb into the mid-second round—roughly the same neighborhood as Ladd McConkey—because he averaged 7-8 targets and 16.5 half-PPR points in his final six healthy games. He recommended grabbing Rice whenever he slips past pick 30 to lock in a rare combination of Chiefs target share and closing-line equity.

Beimfohr hammered the point that a fully healthy, non-suspended Rashee Rice should be drafted in the middle of Round 2. He said he would take Rice ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Tee Higgins, Davante Adams, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Garrett Wilson because Rice already led the Chiefs in targets per route run as a rookie and now gets an entire offseason embedded with Patrick Mahomes. The only reason drafters are getting a discount is the uncertainty around a possible league suspension; remove that cloud and Rice becomes Mahomes’ clear first read in the NFL’s premier passing attack. Beimfohr called himself “stubbornly pounding the table” and declared that any room letting Rice slide outside the top 20 picks is gifting equity to opponents.

Davis Mattek urged drafters to grab Rashee Rice immediately, arguing the only thing keeping him out of the first round is suspension uncertainty. Mattek said he would rank Rice right behind Puka Nacua—well inside the top-12 overall—if the off-field cloud disappeared, and he expects the market to treat him that way once clarity comes. Because early-summer best-ball rooms still price in a discount, Mattek views current drafts as the rare chance to build unique Patrick Mahomes stacks and WR rooms that won’t be available once Rice’s ADP rockets into the 1-2 turn range. He reminded listeners that Rice closed last season commanding double-digit targets in six of his final eight games, finishing top-10 league-wide in yards per route run over that span, and Kansas City did nothing meaningful at wide receiver in the draft. Mattek called the pre-hype discount "the easiest click on the board" for anyone chasing tournament-winning upside.

Beimfohr placed Rashee Rice atop his May "core picks," calling him the single best early-round wide-receiver value on the board. Rice is coming off a rookie season where he led Kansas City in targets per route run and now gets a full offseason with Patrick Mahomes. DraftKings drafters are baking in a significant discount because of the Chiefs’ addition of Xavier Worthy and Rice’s off-field uncertainty, but Beimfohr believes the second-year wideout remains Mahomes’ first read and is underpriced relative to his projected target share in the league’s premier passing offense.

Beimfohr hammered the table for drafting Rashee Rice two rounds ahead of ADP, arguing that, absent a suspension, Rice would belong in the middle of the second round. He said he would take Rice over Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Tee Higgins, Davante Adams, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Garrett Wilson because Rice already proved he can command targets from Patrick Mahomes and operate as the Chiefs’ unquestioned WR1. The only thing keeping his price in the 50s is uncertainty around possible league discipline. Beimfohr’s stance: bet on talent and situation, assume a partial ban is already priced in, and lock up a player who can post multiple 25-point weeks whenever he’s on the field.

Mike Wright said drafters may be over‑penalizing Rashee Rice for a suspension that might not happen this year. Citing cap‑friendly lawyer Dan Davenport’s latest breakdown, Wright explained that Rice’s court dates have been pushed into a jurisdiction notorious for long delays, making it "not impossible" the case drags past the entire 2025 season. If the league waits for legal resolution, Rice could suit up all year for the Chiefs, which would give him every‑week WR2 value in Patrick Mahomes’ offense despite Xavier Worthy’s arrival. Wright urged managers to scoop Rice at his current depressed ADP, especially in best‑ball formats where the risk of a late‑season ban is less punitive.