Buy, Sell or Hold Rashee Rice In Dynasty Fantasy Football?
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Less than a week ago, we were hit with more Rashee Rice off-the-field news, having violated his probation in addition to receiving a clean-up procedure on his knee that is expected to sideline him for the next two months ahead of training camp.
Obviously, his fantasy football stock has taken a massive hit. Redrafters for 2026 have plenty of time to adjust their priors with Rice. His dynasty managers, however, are in a different camp and got hit with another update on Sunday that the Chiefs have “no plans” to give Rice his extension before the season.
Surprising? No.
But dynasty trades involving Rice are flying as his managers panic. Five recent trades (via KeepTradeCut) for Rice are listed below:
Team 1: Rashee Rice
Team 2: 2028 Round 1 Pick ___
Team 1: Rashee Rice
Team 2: Mike Evans, 2026 Pick 2.05 ___
Team 1: Rashee Rice
Team 2: Garrett Wilson ___
Team 1: Rashee Rice
Team 2: 2027 Round 1 Pick, DK Metcalf ___
Team 1: Rashee Rice
Team 2: 2027 Round 1 Pick, Tory Horton, Kaleb Johnson
Stating the obvious, it’s clearly dependent on your leaguemates as to what to expect in terms of a trade return for Rice. 2027 first-round picks are all the buzz in dynasty land, and people have been able to cash in on the hype by offloading Rice. There have been others who have clearly sold low (2028 Round 1 pick).
The point is, Rice’s value is nowhere near settled. He’s in the midst of a two-month recovery from his knee procedure, serving 30 days in jail and we have no idea what his production level will be like to open 2026 with the return of Patrick Mahomes.
The point? Sometimes it’s best to play the waiting game. While telling you to hold Rice is far from the fun answer, it’s the best thing you can do at the moment.
If he plays Week 1 and posts a 7-104-2 line, I can promise you his value will be higher than it is today. And that could very well happen.
If you can net a 2027 Round 1 pick plus a startable young asset, I would entertain selling, but don’t settle for less and panic-sell. We’ve seen Rice’s ceiling, and we’re likely to see it again.
If you’ve had Josh Allen in fantasy any year since 2020, you’ve been more than happy. He’s been the QB1 five times in that span, the only year he didn’t finish up top being 2022, when he fell all the way to QB2. He just finished his follow-up to his 2024 NFL MVP season with 3,668 passing yards and 25 TDs, adding 579 rushing yards and 14 more scores on the ground. Betting against him continuing his fantasy dominance for another five years would be ill-advised.
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Around the Watercooler
The latest fantasy and NFL gossip, news, memes and more from our merry band of football nerds …
The last update to Sam Wallace’s dynasty fantasy football rankings came immediately after the NFL Draft and focused mostly on the skill position players drafted in Round 1. Now that the dust has settled a bit, he’s focusing on the next wave of rookies and trying to determine where they land amongst the veterans in his latest dynasty rankings update …
🐬 Chris Bell | WR | MIA
I'm a big fan of Malik Willis, and I was stoked when he not only got the opportunity to be the starting QB for the Dolphins but also the contract that went along with it. However, my excitement for Willis quickly faded once I saw just how bad their wide receiver room was. Here's how it currently stands:
Jalen Tolbert
Tutu Atwell
Malik Washington
That's … not great. The team did at least attempt to address the situation during the NFL Draft. They snagged a TE and a pair of wideouts in Round 3 and then another TE and WR on Day 3. Of all their new picks, there's one player who stands out as being the most viable for dynasty managers: Chris Bell.
Bell was one of the two wideouts selected by Miami in the third round. He was having a very productive season at Louisville before tearing his ACL in November. We'll have to keep an eye on his recovery this summer to better gauge when he'll make his debut.
From a prospect perspective, here's what Dwain McFarland had to say about Bell:
When you zoom out on all of the data points, Bell doesn't pop as a special prospect, but he might be good enough to work as an underneath target as a WR2 or WR3 for an NFL offense … Bell's best fit might be on a team that uses motion and play-action to play to his strengths as a YAC option early, as he works out the kinks as a route runner.
Honestly, the biggest thing working for Bell right now is the sheer level of opportunity he'll have in Miami. With no legitimate threats in front of him, Bell should be given every chance to take on a large role in this offense. He's currently my WR59 in dynasty formats.
Though often famous last words, Adam Pfeifer believes (again) that tight end is kind of, sort of, possibly deep this season? There are usually only a few true difference-making players at the position. But he really likes a bunch of players that are outside the consensus top 12.
We’ll see how that works out. But for now, let’s dive into the top 12 fantasy tight ends as we head into June, starting with some second-year stars:
4. Tyler Warren | IND
You know how we talked about how Loveland’s rookie season took off in the second half? Well, Warren’s was the complete opposite.
To open the NFL season, the Colts were the surprise around the league. Daniel Jones’ career was revived in Indianapolis, Jonathan Taylor was dominating and the Colts had one of the best offenses in football. From Weeks 1-10, Warren ran 83% of the routes, while sporting an identical target share and TPRR (21%). His 13.6 PPR PPG during that span was good enough for TE2 in fantasy.
Everything was looking good.
But as the schedule got tougher, the Colts' offense began to come back down to Earth. And then when Jones went down in Week 14, a once borderline elite Indianapolis offense became much more difficult to trust. The Colts shocked the world, bringing back Philip Rivers to play quarterback in the year 2026. It went … as you’d expect. Laughably low aDOT, no vertical passes and a lot of handoffs to Taylor. As a result, Warren’s fantasy ceiling cratered, averaging just 26.6 receiving yards and 6.3 PPR PPG from Week 14 on.
Entering 2026, the Colts expect Jones to be ready for Week 1, which bodes well for Warren. But so does the absence of Michael Pittman and his 111 targets. One of my favorite storylines to track this year is who sees a boost in RPO targets in Pittman’s absence. Last year, Pittman saw 12 such looks, the third-most in all of football. Shane Steichen loves to throw passes out of RPO concepts and because they are pre-determined looks to a specific player, they are very valuable for fantasy football. It wouldn’t shock me if they went to Warren, especially considering how creative their usage of him is. As a rookie, Warren lined up all over the formation and even saw three goal-line looks and one red-zone pass attempt.
Warren is widely considered the TE4 in fantasy, and I can’t say I disagree.
5. Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
Fannin was THE breakout tight end last year, finishing seventh in PPG (11.7). He emerged as Cleveland’s top pass catcher, ranking first among all tight ends in TPRR (24%), while his 22% target share was good for fourth. The Browns featured Fannin with plenty of schemed looks, while lining him up all over the formation.
Despite dealing with poor quarterback play and the presence of David Njoku, Fannin still saw 108 targets. That number could easily drop this year after the Browns added KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston during the offseason. Plus, the Browns have one of the friendliest schedules in football, potentially leading to less point-chasing game scripts. Still not even 22-years-old, Fannin will remain a focal point of Cleveland’s passing attack, with his schemed touches and YAC ability giving him a strong floor/ceiling combo.
