Kansas City head coach Andy Reid has quietly groomed second-round rookie wide receiver
Rashee Rice (81.0 PFF receiving grade) for the No. 1 role, and de facto X-wide receiver
Justin Watson’s (65.1 PFF receiving grade) Week 6 elbow dislocation creates an opportunity. Rice is startable as a points-per-reception WR2.
The game’s 48.5-point FanDuel over/under is Week 7’s second highest. FanDuel implies Kansas City to score 27.0 points.
PFF’s OL/DL matchup chart gives Kansas City a 24.0% pass-blocking matchup advantage rating, fifth best on the week.
Rice transitioned from a 57.7% pre-snap alignment slot rate in Weeks 1-5 to a 33.3% rate across all three pre-snap positions following Watson’s injury. Fantasy managers should expect similarly diverse pre-snap alignments this week, with special attention paid to No. 2 perimeter cornerback
Michael Davis (28.8 PFF perimeter wide receiver coverage grade).
Among 64 NFL perimeter cornerbacks with at least 50 perimeter coverage snaps, Davis ranks outside the top 50 in targeted rate (36.5%), catch rate allowed (71.4%), yards allowed per coverage snap (3.27) and explosive pass plays allowed rate (7.3%). No. 1 cornerback
Asante Samuel Jr.‘s(81.6 PFF perimeter wide receiver coverage grade) respective 30.4%, 64.3%, 2.46 and 4.3% rates rank 29th or worse.
Among 34 NFL slot cornerbacks with at least 30 slot coverage snaps,
Ja’Sir Taylor’s (33.7 PFF slot coverage grade) 1.63 yards allowed per coverage snap ranks 20th and his 5.6% explosive pass plays allowed rate ranks 29th.
Rice has quietly amassed 18 first-read targets, trailing only tight end
Travis Kelce’s (89.1 PFF receiving grade) 30 among Kansas City pass-catchers.
The keys to Rice’s impending successes are his first-read, over-the-middle targets.
Among 24 NFL wide receivers with at least 25 such receiving snaps and 15 such targets, Rice’s 57.7% first-read, over-the-middle target rate ranks first, his 5.77 yards per route run and 7.7 yards after the catch per reception rank third, his three missed tackles forced ties for eighth and his four explosive pass plays ties for No. 12.
Rice is quietly a top-24 PPR wide receiver in Week 7.