One Chiefs coach reveals hidden part of WR Rashee Rice's return that could have Kansas City's offense humming

Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice is nearing his return to the field in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The NFL has officially lifted Rice's suspension, and he's expected to return to a prominent role alongside Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy, and JuJu Smith-Schuster as early as Sunday afternoon. Rice isn't just coming back from suspension, but also making his return from a season-ending knee injury suffered in Week 4. The sentiment from the practice week is that Rice looks healthy and ready to return to the field with his teammates.

After the past three weeks against the Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Detroit Lions, there's a growing sentiment that the Chiefs have their offense trending in the right direction. How can Rice's return add to that, though? One coach provided the perfect answer on Thursday.

Chiefs' Joe Bleymaier thinks Rashee Rice's return can help the offense reduce third downs

Asked about Rashee Rice's return, yards after catch, and the importance of adding that quality back to the offense, Chiefs passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier pointed to how Rice's return may impact a specific down for Kansas City.

"I think the value of it is, in a way, eliminating some third downs," Bleymaier said. "And so when you have the yards after the catch (YAC), we're always trying to get explosive plays that move the chains. Sometimes the easiest or highest percentage throw is shorter, but if you can take that higher percentage completion and turn it into a yards after catch that moves the chains, you're just prolonging the drive, raising the likelihood that you're scoring points, and staying out of those third downs where the potential is coming off the field. So I think, in the grand scheme of things, we've been good on third downs, and we've been great having third and manageable third down shorter and staying sort of ahead of the sticks, but the YAC really helps you, I think, keep continuing to move the chains."

The Chiefs are in the middle of the pack of the NFL this season, facing 12.5 third downs per game on average through the first six weeks of the 2025 NFL season. They've converted 31 of their 75 third downs (41.33%) they've faced so far this season. Rice's penchant for creating YAC is something that could potentially change that percentage for the better. Not necessarily because he's going to help them convert those third downs, but because the team just won't face them with as great a frequency. You can't lose on third down if you're picking up chunk plays on first and second down to move the sticks before you even get there.

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice Yards After Catch Quick Facts

• Rice has 1,226 career regular-season receiving yards on 103 receptions across two NFL seasons.
• Rice 840 of those yards have been generated after the catch (69%).

It's worth noting that during his rookie season, Rice recorded 44 first-down receptions, the second most of any player on the team not named Travis Kelce. Despite playing just three games and a few snaps in Week 4 before his injury, Rice finished sixth on the team with 15 first-down receptions in 2024.