Xavier Worthy looks ready to contribute now for the Chiefs
The rookie WR showed a lot in his 2nd preseason game, as did Andy Reid.
The expectations I’ve had for Xavier Worthy to be a sizeable contributor to the 2024 Chiefs offense have grown at basically every turn. They’ve gone from “he probably won’t be a major factor,” to “he’ll have an important but pretty niche role,” to “there’s a chance they feature him a little more than what we’re used to in an Andy Reid offense as a rookie,” to… Well, at this point I’d be surprised if he wasn’t a major part of the offense, both before and after Hollywood Brown returns from injury.
On Saturday against the Lions, Worthy took the hype train and cranked it up to “full speed ahead,” gaining 73 yards on 4 total touches (3 catches, one reverse) and scoring his first NFL touchdown (albeit a preseason touchdown).
The thing is, when you look at his usage/role on film, as well as his impact when he didn’t get the ball… that stat line actually underestimates what he added to the Chiefs offense. You didn’t misread that. He was actually more important than 73 yards and a TD in less than a full half of play. That’s a big deal, and we need to work through why it’s true.
There’s not a player I’ve written about more this offseason than Chiefs rookie WR Xavier Worthy. I wrote about his college film prior to the draft as part of the “know your draft crush” series. I wrote about how (in college) he was more than just fast. I wrote about him as one of the 11 players I was watching when the pads came on in training camp. I wrote about his release at the line vs press on a single rep. I wrote about him getting bodied shortly thereafter in a single rep. He featured strongly when I wrote about the Chiefs’ clear intention to bring the deep ball back in 2024.
In short, I’ve written about Worthy a TON here. But all of it is mostly theoretical, trying to project his skillset into the Chiefs’ offense with the pieces they have in place. After Saturday, we actually have our first look as to exactly how Andy Reid might deploy him, where he can win, and how he can affect the field with his gravity (a concept I’ve talked about here before, we’ll circle back to that). And almost all of the news we got was good news.
Worthy made a big play with (and against) the 1st team, and of course had a touchdown with (and against) the 2nd team. But as is often the case in the preseason, it’s not the RESULT of the plays that matters as much as the HOW the play occurred. Skillset and usage are king. And it’s both his skillset and usage that has me struggling to control my optimism about Worthy’s ability to contribute, as well as his ability to affect plays even when he’s not getting the ball.
Let’s dive into the all 22 from Saturday, Worthy’s usage/skillset, and why it’s a good time to be a Chiefs fan.