Chiefs Could Benefit from Return of Injured WR in 2025

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a humbling loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl as their normally potent offense failed to show any signs of life for most of the game. Kansas City looked woefully overmatched and was outperformed in every aspect of the game.

However, there was much more to the Chiefs' loss than the fact that the Eagles dominated. Kansas City also has multiple flaws on the roster and depth chart that normally gets overlooked because of how good the Chiefs are.

The Eagles exposed and took full advantage of those flaws, shutting down Kansas City's high-flying offense. Still, it is worth noting that the Chiefs' skill positions were a shell of itself after being rocked by injuries throughout the regular season.

Kyle Soppe of the Pro Football Network released his bold predictions for every team in the National Football League for the 2025 season. Soppe believes the return of one of the Chiefs' best wide receivers will lead to an explosive season for that receiver and the Chiefs' offense.

Soppe's bold prediction is that Rice will finish the 2025 season top 10 in receiving yards. This would be a massive addition for a Chiefs team that lacked a quality deep threat when it mattered the most. The Chiefs' offense looked stagnant and unable to test the Eagles' defense until it was too late. Having Rice in the fold would have helped with that.

"The Chiefs being in yet another Super Bowl is all the more remarkable when you remember how decimated their new-look wide receiver room was in 2024," Soppe said. "Hollywood Brown and Rice never played a game together, with the latter seeing his season end in Week 4 with an LCL injury.

"The good news is that Rice’s estimated recovery timeline of four months gives him plenty of time to ramp up for the 2025 season, suggesting he shouldn’t experience a significant lag in performance. At the time of his injury, Rice ranked 12th with 288 receiving yards but also had the fifth-highest target rate (33%) among wide receivers."

Soppe noted that the Chiefs offense could look completly different next season, especially among its skill position players. Kansas City has multiple wide receivers set to hit free agency this season, which could make matters worse for the Chiefs' group of wide receivers. However, while losing other receivers could negatively impact the offense overall, it should lead to more targets and receptions for Rice, assuming he is healthy.

"By now, we know Travis Kelce will be on some type of maintenance plan that reduces his regular season production to preserve him for the playoffs," Soppe said. "Brown and DeAndre Hopkins are both free agents, which could lead to another thin wide receiver room next season. All that shapes up to have Rice serve as Patrick Mahomes’ top target next regular season, allowing him to deliver the type of production he was headed for in 2024."

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