Who gets Rashee Rice's targets when he is out?
In the six games Kansas City played without Rashee Rice and with Patrick Mahomes, weeks 1 to 6 of 2025, the extra targets went mostly to Hollywood Brown (7.3 a game against 2.6), JuJu Smith-Schuster (4.0 against 1.5) and Tyquan Thornton (4.2 against 1.7). Brown and Smith-Schuster have no 2026 games with the Chiefs and Thornton is on injured reserve. Travis Kelce's targets barely moved, and Mahomes ran nearly twice as often.
Rashee Rice will not play in Kansas City’s game against the Chargers on Sunday, October 18, 2026 (hamstring and knee; reported Friday, October 16). The last time the Chiefs played a run of games without him, his suspension in weeks 1 to 6 of 2025, Patrick Mahomes started all six. Our NFL game logs show where Rice’s targets went, and the answer comes with a catch: most of them went to receivers who are not available now.
The comparison group is the 11 regular-season games Rice and Mahomes both played, from October 19, 2025 to September 27, 2026. A game counts as with Rice when he played at least a fifth of the snaps; his return game on October 19, 2025 (41% of the snaps, 10 targets) is in. The October 4, 2026 game at Las Vegas, which he left in the first quarter, is in neither group and is described on its own below. Rice also missed three late-2025 games in which Mahomes did not play either; they are left out, because Sunday is a game Mahomes plays.
Where the targets went
Rice averaged 8.6 targets and 69.2 receiving yards a game when he played.
| Per game | With Rice (11) | Without Rice (6) | On the Chiefs now? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Brown, targets | 2.6 | 7.3 | No: has played for Philadelphia in 2026 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster, targets | 1.5 | 4.0 | No 2026 games in our logs |
| Tyquan Thornton, targets | 1.7 | 4.2 | On injured reserve |
| Travis Kelce, targets | 6.6 | 6.2 | Yes |
| Xavier Worthy, targets | 5.5 | 7.0 (3 full games: 8, 9, 4) | Yes |
| Noah Gray, targets | 2.1 | 2.5 | Yes |
| Brashard Smith, targets | 1.6 | 2.2 | Yes |
Brown’s 7.3 includes 16 targets in the opener against the Chargers; his median across the six was 5.5. Brown played 7 of the 11 with-Rice games, Smith-Schuster 8, Gray 10 and Smith 9, so their with-Rice figures come from those games.
The three receivers who absorbed most of the extra work were Brown, Smith-Schuster and Thornton, about ten targets a game between them over their with-Rice level. None of them is available on Sunday. That is the useful finding here: the last time is a guide to the role, not to the names.
The one recent game: October 4 at Las Vegas
Rice played six snaps on October 4, 2026, ten percent, with no target, before leaving in the first quarter. It is one game, and it is the only recent look at this season’s receiver room without him:
| October 4, 2026 at Las Vegas | Targets | Catches | Receiving yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyquan Thornton | 8 | 5 | 111 |
| Xavier Worthy | 7 | 4 | 70 |
| Travis Kelce | 4 | 2 | 15 |
| Noah Gray | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| Jalen Royals | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Thornton led the receivers that day and was placed on injured reserve on October 13. Mahomes completed 15 of 30 passes for 225 yards and carried twice. One game describes one afternoon, not a role.
Travis Kelce: steady targets, fewer yards
Kelce averaged 6.2 targets without Rice and 6.6 with him, and caught 4.7 passes against 4.8. His receiving yards were lower, 53.5 a game against 64.3 (medians 54.5 and 66). Six games cannot say whether that gap is about Rice.
Xavier Worthy: only three full games
Worthy was hurt early in the 2025 opener (five percent of the snaps) and missed the next two games, so the six-game window holds only three full games for him: 8, 9 and 4 targets. Add the 7 he drew on October 4, 2026, and the sample is still too small to say how his role changes without Rice.
Patrick Mahomes ran more
Mahomes averaged 6.3 carries and 37.0 rushing yards a game without Rice, against 3.3 and 21.9 with him, with at least four carries in every one of the six. His passing changed less: 252.3 yards a game against 262.3, on 35.5 attempts against 35.2.
What this can and cannot tell you
Six games from early 2025, against six different defences, with a receiver room that has since changed, and one more game this season that Rice left early. It shows the shape of what happened last time: the targets spread across the other receivers rather than going to Kelce, and Mahomes ran more. It does not say who takes those targets on Sunday, and it says nothing about prices. Cause unknown throughout.
Where to find these
When the Chiefs’ game is on the Lab board, open Kelce’s receiving yards page or Worthy’s for targets and catches beside every result, and Mahomes’ rushing yards page for his carries. The same question for Baltimore this weekend is in Ravens props without Lamar Jackson.
Source: our NFL game logs, regular season only, 2025 and 2026 through October 4, 2026. Rice’s status as reported Friday, October 16, 2026.
Quick answers
Does Travis Kelce get more targets without Rashee Rice?
Not in the games we hold. With Mahomes playing, Kelce averaged 6.2 targets and 53.5 receiving yards in the six games without Rice, against 6.6 targets and 64.3 yards in the 11 games with both.
Where did Rice's targets go last time?
Rice averaged 8.6 targets a game when he played. In the six games without him, Hollywood Brown went from 2.6 targets a game to 7.3, JuJu Smith-Schuster from 1.5 to 4.0 and Tyquan Thornton from 1.7 to 4.2. None of the three is available to the Chiefs on Sunday: Brown has played for Philadelphia this season, Smith-Schuster has no 2026 games in our logs, and Thornton is on injured reserve.
What about Xavier Worthy?
Worthy was hurt early in the 2025 opener (five percent of the snaps) and missed the next two games, so he played only three full games without Rice: 8, 9 and 4 targets. In the 11 games with Rice he averaged 5.5 targets and 37.2 yards. In the October 4, 2026 game that Rice left in the first quarter, Worthy drew 7 targets and caught 4 for 70 yards.
Did Patrick Mahomes play differently without Rice?
He ran more: 6.3 carries and 37.0 rushing yards a game without Rice, against 3.3 and 21.9 with him. His passing changed less, 252.3 yards a game against 262.3.
Does this predict Sunday's game?
No. Six games from September and October 2025, with a roster that has since changed, describe what happened the last time; they do not forecast who takes the targets now, and they say nothing about the prices.
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