ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Rashee Rice spent every morning this past summer huddling with Shane Buechele, the former Texas quarterback-turned-backup to Patrick Mahomes, trying to get a grasp on the telephone book-thick playbook of Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid.
Rice knows the Chiefs have high expectations for him after spending a second-round pick on him.
They’re even higher given how much their rookies produced last season.
It’s a good bet that, despite an MVP performance from Mahomes and more brilliance from Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and the rest of the Chiefs, they would not have hoisted another Lombardi Trophy last season without their group of first-year players.
Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams and Bryan Cook became regular playmakers in the secondary. George Karlaftis was one of their most reliable edge rushers. Skyy Moore made some important catches and one hugely important punt return in the Super Bowl. And seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco not only became the starting running back but a bona fide star.
“We really had to slam dunk this thing from start to finish, and it was one of those years a GM dreams of,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach acknowledged. “Just everything seemed like it would work out.”
Now it’s up to Rice and the rest of a new rookie class to do the same thing.
So, the wide receiver toiled away over the summer in the hopes of stepping into an important role for the Chiefs, who watched JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman leave in free agency and will be counting on him to pick up much of the slack.
“Like I said, meeting with Shane during our break gave me a head start just because he’s a quarterback, and he can’t really take a break,” Rice said. “Every day I’m going to be meeting with Shane in his dorm to go over plays before the next day.”
Rice isn’t the only rookie carrying some great expectations this season.
Felix Anudike-Uzomah, the Chiefs’ first-round pick, was always going to be in the spotlight given the fact that he grew up in suburban Kansas City and starred just down Interstate 70 at Kansas State.
But when the Chiefs lost Carlos Dunlap in free agency and released Frank Clark to create some much-needed salary cap space, it put some additional pressure on the gregarious and high-energy Anudike-Uzomah to produce in the same way that Karlaftis did as a rookie.
Anudike-Uzomah is already playing catch-up during training camp, which opened for rookies this week with the first full-squad workout scheduled for Sunday. He was coming off an injury and was limited during offseason work.
“It was very tough, especially since they drafted me to play me right away. They drafted me in the first round so all the coaches expected a lot out of me,” Anudike-Uzomah said following practice this week. “So it was very hard, very tough that I can’t do exactly what they want me to do right away. It was just a lot of mental reps, a lot of learning the playbook, a lot of knowing player technique even though I can’t do it on the field, I have to do it mentally.”
The urgency isn’t quite so great for the rest of the Chiefs’ rookie class.
They lost both of their starting offensive tackles in free agency, then filled the spots by signing veterans Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith. And that took some of the pressure off Wanya Morris, their third-round pick out of Oklahoma, though the hope is that he can develop into the swing tackle capable of playing both sides of the line if someone gets hurt.
Fourth-round pick Chamarri Conner and seven-rounder Nic Jones, meanwhile, can thank last year’s superb rookie class that solidified the Kansas City defensive backfield for their ability to slowly get acclimated to the professional game.
All the rookies have had the undivided attention of the coaching staff until the veterans report Friday.
“I think it’s great for the young guys. I think it’s good for the older guys just to get tuned up, they know what it takes to get themselves ready for the season. This is a way to knock a little rust off,” Reid said, “but for the young guys I think it’s even more beneficial. And it’s also beneficial for the coaches to see the young guys and see what they can do.”
NOTES: Pacheco said after Thursday’s practice that he will be ready for the season opener. He missed most of the offseason program after repairing a broken hand and torn labrum, which he played with during the Super Bowl. “I’m feeling great right now,” said Pacheco, adding that his goal for this season is to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing.
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