Tag: xavier worthy 2024 NFL draft

Xavier Worthy’s record-breaking speed will show up on the field for the Chiefs

Rookie receiver Xavier Worthy could be a big part of the Chiefs’ offense in 2024, and it’s about more than his record-breaking speed.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins before the 2022 season, and they’ve been trying to replace Hill as a receiver who can test and beat the third level of a defense ever since. Two straight Super Bowl wins will lessen the pain of that need, but if you watched any Chiefs tape last season, and watched whatever was going on with that group of receivers, you certainly saw it.

General manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid probably don’t want to be in another position where Steve Spagnuolo’s defense had to drag the team into the postseason in the first place, and that’s why Kansas City traded up with the Buffalo Bills to select Texas’s Xavier Worthy, who set the all-time scouting combine record with a 4.21-second 40-yard dash.

The Chiefs aren’t worried about Worthy’s ability to take that speed to the field in a functional sense, and Worthy has already mentioned the similarities to the offense he was a part of in Texas.

“It’s been fun, learning the new offense and seeing how they run stuff, and just getting the flow of things. It reminds me a lot of Sark’s [Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian’s] playbook, a lot of similarities, just a lot of different names to it. It’s going to be fun to play in this offense.

“I feel like [Kansas City] was my main spot. Pat [Mahomes] – I feel like everybody would want to play for Pat with how amazing of a quarterback he is and how versatile he is.”

So far, Andy Reid is impressed.

“I thought he did a nice job picking things up and working through – we asked him to do a whole lot of stuff there,” Reid said during of Worthy during the Chiefs’ rookie minicamp. “He was put in most of the primary spots, so it was good for him to be able to get in there and move around a little bit.”

Worthy has to work on a few things at the NFL level, but it’s not just speed here — he can get free with some pretty good route awareness, and it’s important to know that the 5′ 11¼”, 165-pound Worthy wanted to play for Sarkisian because he was so impressed with how Sark prepared DeVonta Smith, a similarly-sized speed receiver, for the NFL when Sark was Alabama’s offensive coordinator.

This isn’t just a “let’s get a fast guy on the field and hope he can make deep catches” thing — there’s a lot of planning here on all sides.

 

2024 NFL Draft: Texas WR Xavier Worthy scouting report

Texas receiver Xavier Worthy’s record-breaking speed shows up on the field, but his limitations could impede his NFL journey.

Speed kills, and absolute speed kills absolutely. Texas receiver Xavier Worthy has absolute speed.

It was easy enough to diagnose that from watching his game tape, but when Worthy went to the 2024 scouting combine and set the record with a 4.21-second 40-yard dash, that was the clincher. And it was the only instance in which Worthy put up preposterous numbers.

Now, the height/weight profile could be a problem. There are other smaller speed receivers who have succeeded in the NFL, but the guys who have done it in the modern era generally check in a bit heavier — more on the 180-pound scale.

So, will Worthy’s NFL team stick with his weight as is, or try to beef him up a bit without losing any of that explosive potential? We can but wait and see.

PLUSES

— Record-breaking speed shows up on the field; Worthy can house a handoff or a quick screen, and he’s very adept at gaining separation in a straight line downfield.

— Has a nice sense of foot feints to get off press at the line of scrimmage and will then head into Acceleration Mode.

— Turns into his routes with little need to slow down and re-accelerate.

— Wins with late hands to the ball as it’s coming in.

— His ability to get open and up to top speed out of motion could make him a terrifying target in the right NFL offense.

— Not just a go/post/seam guy, Worthy will stick his foot in the ground to re-direct, and he’s got a pretty diverse route profile.

MINUSES

— For all his explosive potential, Worthy had just six catches of 20 or more air yards last season on 23 targets for 234 yards and two touchdowns.

— Focus drops are a legitimate issue; Worthy doesn’t have much of a catch radius, and he isn’t excited about heading into traffic.

— Blocking is more performative than effective.

— Creates YAC with speed as opposed to any sort of physicality; he’s not a contested catch player in the traditional sense, and his after-contact potential is iffy.

Worthy is more of a nuanced receiver than the speed numbers would have you believe. On the other hand, he isn’t as explosively effective as you’d like for a guy with his rare traits. A lot of that can be worked through with NFL coaching, but 5′ 11¼” and 165 pounds is what it is. Worthy’s NFL team had best have a clear plan for his schematic success.