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Chiefs traded up with the Lions to select SMU WR Rashee Rice with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Chiefs gave up picks 63, 122, and 249 to get this pick from Detroit, and also got back 194th overall. Rice will open up behind Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Kadarius Toney on the depth chart. A four-year contributor for the Mustangs, Rice (6’1/204) beat up on his group of five competition … except for when he didn’t. Inconsistency is a hallmark of Rice’s film and box scores, though his 96/1,355/10 2022 was by far his best campaign. Big for a receiver by the standards of the modern NFL, Rice is also fast for his size, posting a solid 4.51 40-yard dash but better 10- and 20-yard splits. A dominant jumper with a 41-inch vertical and 10’8’’ broad jump, Rice enters the league with a relative athletic score of 9.53 out of 10.0, putting him in the top 100 of the nearly 3,000 wideouts graded since 1987. Those numbers show up in his ball skills. Also a YAC threat, Rice plays strong. He does need to clean up the finer points of his game, which is always easier said than done at the NFL level. Already 23 and arriving from a non-power five conference, Rice will need to win with size while he works to become a better technician.
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