Xavier Worthy is more than fast
Rebutting a few arguments/concerns regarding the Chiefs' new WR
With the 28th pick in the 1st round, the Chiefs selected Xavier Worthy out of Texas. Of course, you know that or you wouldn’t be reading this right now.
In order to grab the speedy WR, the Chiefs conducted a small trade-up with (checks notes) the Buffalo Bills, a team that really shouldn’t even pick up the phone when Brett Veach calls. But I digress. Here are the terms of the trade and the “value” exchanged based on what smart math people say.
So the Chiefs managed to trade up without giving up much value in the process to grab the receiver they wanted. That’s good news!
Of course, you’re not here to read about value, you’re here to read about Xavier Worthy. And I have even MORE good news for you! In case you didn’t know, I already wrote an in-depth film review on Worthy in the “know your draft crush” series, which you can find right here! In it, I looked at his speed/acceleration/agility, releases at the line of scrimmage, route running, hands/strength at catch point, and YAC/playmaking ability. A little excerpt/preview on my overall takeaway after reviewing the film of a player I was skeptical about coming into it…
So the film has already been reviewed for you, hammer that link to read about it! But for today’s purposes, I want to address some questions that a lot of people are going to have about Worthy given the history of small speedsters. Specifically, I’ve seen on social media a large number of people comparing Worthy unfavorably to John Ross, Mecole Hardman, and players of that ilk.
You can really find the rebuttals to those concerns in his film review, but I’d like to lay out specifically why lumping Worthy in with other guys who crushed the 40-yard dash and are on the smaller side (Ross and Hardman in particular) misses a great deal of what Worthy did in college. Let’s talk about why, at least based on his film from Texas, Worthy is more than just fast.