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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The Kansas City Chiefs' offense looked much different after Week 7, when wide receiver Rashee Rice returned from his six-game suspension and rookie running back Brashard Smith again showed why the Chiefs drafted him as a speed mismatch.
Rice led the team in receptions (seven), targets (10) and touchdowns (two), along with 42 receiving yards, while Smith tallied 39 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards on 19 total touches in KC's 31-0 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders.
On Friday, Mitch Holthus, the play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network, spoke highly about the team's two young playmakers on "96.5 The Fan."
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"The jet sweep, the flip pass, the end around, the screen, the baby screen... When you have literally another 4.29 guy (Smith), that just goes in warp speed... Again, a seven-yard play can become a 70-yard play," Holthus said. "Then you add in the fact that you have Rice. And so Rice and Smith, to me, are a perfect complement. It's like having Mayweather and Pacquiao on the same side in a boxing match, and they get to tap out and switch rounds. They're in the same corner."
"All of these guys, in a way, complement each other, but particularly Rice and Brashard Smith," Holthus added.
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Rice ran a 4.51-second 40 at the 2023 NFL Combine with a 41-inch vertical and 128-inch broad jump.
These elite athletic traits helped him burst out as a rookie, recording 938 receiving yards and seven TDs on 79 catches (102 targets) in 2023.
Smith, meanwhile, clocked a 4.39-second 40 at the 2025 NFL Combine and had a career year at SMU in 2024 in which he rushed for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns on 235 carries (5.7 yards per carry), along with 327 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns on 39 receptions (8.4 yards per catch).
Through seven games, Smith has totaled 22 carries for 67 rushing yards and 14 receptions for 122 receiving yards, playing behind starters Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt.
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While neither necessarily has straight-line home-run speed like Tyreek Hill, both players' burst and play-after-catch explosiveness are what can help turn short-yardage plays (jet sweeps, flip passes, etc.) into massive gains.
Over the course of the season, that can restore the Chiefs’ ability to manufacture chunk plays without relying solely on conventional vertical threats like Xavier Worhy or Tyquan Thornton.
Kansas City next plays on "Monday Night Football" against the Washington Commanders — a short week that tests how quickly the Chiefs can rep the new packages in practice.
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