Who Should I Start? Rashee Rice or Xavier Worthy

Wednesday, December 24, 3:35 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Rashee Rice (concussion) on Injured Reserve on Wednesday, ending his 2025 season, according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. Fellow wideout Tyquan Thornton (concussion) also landed on IR. Both receivers will miss the final two games of the regular season with the Chiefs already eliminated from postseason contention. The 25-year-old Rice got a late start to the year after serving a suspension, but once he returned, he had a high weekly floor for fantasy managers with 53 receptions, 571 yards, and five touchdowns in eight games played. When healthy, it's clear that Rice has become quarterback Patrick Mahomes' (knee) favorite weapon through the air. With both Rice and Thornton out for the last two games, Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown will have more opportunities, but third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun will be running the offense with Mahomes and Gardner Minshew (knee) dealing with torn ACLs.

Wednesday, December 24, 4:24 PM

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy will now be the unquestioned WR1 for the team moving forward. The Chiefs placed Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton on IR on Wednesday morning, opening the door for Worthy to step into a more prominent role. Worthy led the wide receivers in receiving yards last week, catching two passes for 41 yards on three targets. Despite being the lead receiver, Worthy will have to deal with downgraded quarterback play and a difficult matchup in Week 17. Chris Oladokun is now the Chiefs starting quarterback, and they face the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day. Oladokun has 16 passing attempts in his career, and the Broncos defense has allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season. Worthy's role in the offense could potentially be valuable, but he has a lot working against him this week. Worthy is ranked WR56 in our RotoBaller Half-PPR ranking, making him a desperation flex option this week.