Fantasy Football Injury Impact: Rashee Rice Missing Practice Could Boost Travis Kelce, Multiple Sleepers

Rashee Rice exited the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 4 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders early with a hamstring injury. Along with Rice dealing with a hamstring injury, the Chiefs also lost Tyquan Thornton for an extended period because of a serious ankle injury.

With Kansas City coming out of their bye week in Week 5, Rice is absent from practice on Wednesday.

How does Rice’s injury update affect Travis Kelce and the other pass-catchers on the Chiefs from a fantasy football perspective?

All stats used in this article are from PFF or Sumer Sports unless stated otherwise. Fantasy rankings and fantasy point totals are courtesy of FantasyPros.

Fantasy Impact

Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

Although Kelce scored a season-low 3.5 fantasy points in Week 4, the All-Pro TE has turned back the clock in his age-37 season. Entering Week 6, Kelce is tied with Juwan Johnson as the TE8 in fantasy points per game (13.2).

Of the 22 TEs with 20-plus targets in 2026, Kelce has the second-most yards per reception (15.4), most yards after the catch per reception (10.5), and fourth-most yards per route run (2.18). If Rice is inactive on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kelce will be the clear go-to target for Patrick Mahomes.

Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Xavier Worthy is the WR58 in fantasy points per game (8.3) on just an 18.6% target share in his first four games this season. However, Worthy has scored 11-plus fantasy points in two of his last three starts, including in Week 4 when Rice and Thornton left the contest early.

When watching Worthy, he’s seemingly experienced a decline in the speed department amid injuries in recent years. That being said, the Chiefs may have no choice but to look his way more if Rice is unable to suit up in Week 6.

Jalen Royals, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Jalen Royals came out of nowhere with 8.6 fantasy points in Week 2, and the second-year wideout logged a season-high 63.3% offensive snap rate in Week 4. While Royals has yet to find his footing in the NFL, he averaged 15.2 yards per reception and 119.1 yards per game in his final collegiate season at Utah State.

In deeper leagues, Royals could be worth stashing if you have room on your bench as the potential replacement for Thornton.

Cyrus Allen, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

After taking Royals in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Chiefs took Cyrus Allen in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Allen received a ton of training camp hype in the offseason, and there’s a chance he gets a slight post-bye rookie bump if Rice misses any time.

It’s an extremely small sample of six passing-down snaps for Allen this season, but three of those snaps have come out of the slot. Being that Rice has the highest slot rate (46.1%) on the Chiefs, Allen could be his direct backup, making him a worthwhile stash alongside Royals – assuming Kansas City doesn’t make a move at WR soon.