Know your Chiefs draft crush, Part 3: Xavier Worthy
Can the brilliantly fast WR overcome size limitations?
In this year’s “know your draft crush” series, I’m once again examining various wide receivers the Chiefs could target in early rounds of the draft. Fortunately, the 2024 draft is packed with good WR prospects. In an attempt to figure out who would be the best fit in Kansas City, I’m looking at as many as possible, breaking down the film to look at the same traits for each player: Speed/acceleration/agility, releases, route running, hands/catch point work, YAC/playmaking, and an overall takeaway. Here are the guys we’ve looked at so far:
Methodology and Adonai Mitchell (UNLOCKED)
In today’s edition of “know your Chiefs draft crush,” we’ll be looking at Xavier Worthy, a player who has been connected (mostly through speculation based on history/preference of the team) with the Chiefs more often than almost anyone else in the draft. Worthy blew up the combine with a record-setting 4.21 40-yard dash and is widely considered (for good reason) one of the most electric playmakers in the draft. However, he’s undersized and many have questions about how he’ll adapt to the NFL given that limitation.
One of the great things about Worthy’s college career is that he’s played future NFL cornerbacks on several occasions, so we can dive into the film to try and answer whether he has the traits to translate to the next level. Is he Mecole Hardman (all due respect to a 3-time Super Bowl Champion) or Desean Jackson (or Hollywood Brown, or Tank Dell, etc)? As we all know, speed alone isn’t enough in the NFL. And not all speed translates to the field, and is harnessed correctly.
But sometimes it does, and when that happens it’s absolutely (apologies to Travis Kelce) electric. Let’s talk about it.
Xavier Worthy - Texas
Relevant measurements - 5’11”, 165 pounds
Games reviewed - Alabama, Houston, Oklahoma, TCU, Kansas State (2022), Alabama (2022)
(NOTE - Most of the video clips I’ll use will be to highlight positive traits, because they’re more fun to watch. But that doesn’t make the negative traits for a prospect any less real… it just means I like to show the fun things!)
-Speed / acceleration / agility-
Holy crap.
Look, as soon as you hear “4.21 40” your brain probably shuts off a bit when it comes to talking about speed. But it shouldn’t. Because as I said above, not all speedsters translate once the pads come on, or understand how to harness their speed in a way that grabs separation.
Xavier Worthy is not one of those guys.
Worthy’s speed shows up on film at all levels of the field, but in particular on deep routes (whether it’s a post, go, corner, deep crosser, whatever). He can absolutely fly in pads and can not only separate once he’s even with ease, but he can chew up ground on a defender with leverage and still be separated by the time he’s down the field.
Worthy isn’t just a “long speed” guy either. He accelerates terrifically and is able to grab separation fast on short and intermediate routes with good explosion off the line and when he cuts. His combination of quickness, acceleration, and long speed is legitimately difficult to find, and he utilizes it very effectively while varying his “gear” depending on what the situation calls for.