NFL Analysis

2/6/25

5 min read

Xavier Worthy More Than Just A Speed Merchant, Chiefs' WR Developing Rapidly

By James Foster

NFL Analyst
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) dives into the end zone to score a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) dives into the end zone to score a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.

Xavier Worthy was supposed to be a complementary No. 3 receiver as a rookie, but injuries to Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown forced him into a much more prominent role within Kansas City’s offense. Instead of being able to gradually work him into the offense with designed touches and underneath targets, the Chiefs needed Worthy to run an expanded route tree earlier than they had initially planned.

Over the first five weeks Worthy averaged just 3.8 targets and 35.8 yards per game. After Rice’s injury in Week 4, Worthy’s role grew and he has emerged as a reliable and explosive target, who can excel as a deep threat, gadget receiver, and intermediate chain-mover. In his last five games, Worthy has averaged 8.6 targets and 64 yards.

His first touchdown in Week 1 is an example of what everyone expected his role to be. The Chiefs have continued to feature him on jet sweeps and end arounds, and he’s recorded five touchdowns this year on runs or passes behind the line of scrimmage:

Most people assume that the best way to take advantage of the 40-yard dash record holder’s speed is by having him run posts, nine routes, and slot fades, but Kansas City has done an outstanding job of weaponizing his speed on the horizontal plane. He’s capable of stretching the defense laterally and easily burning pursuit angles, especially when he gets matched up with a slot corner or safety.

He's nearly automatic on flat routes or slide routes across the formation against man coverage. His defender is usually unable to fight through traffic and recapture the angle, so this is a very effective short yardage play, especially in the low red zone:

This skillset is also valuable on drag routes and mesh concepts against outside leverage. Worthy’s burst off the snap allows him to win a step on his defender immediately, and they have no chance of recovering. Kansas City has targeted Worthy on this route multiple times on third and fourth downs this year:

Integrating Worthy as a vertical threat took more time and his lack of a connection with Patrick Mahomes on downfield targets was frustrating to watch, especially early in the season. Worthy has caught just four of 18 targets of 20+ air yards this year, and both he and Mahomes deserve blame for their inability to convert.

On multiple occasions Worthy has been wide open on a go route or deep post, but the pass has been uncatchable. Some of these incompletions resulted from poor pass protection:

Worthy hasn’t had any drops on deep targets, but he’s been ineffective winning contested catches and has struggled to land both feet in bounds, even on plays where he was unobstructed:

Later in the season, however, and particularly in the playoffs Worthy has come down with some deep contested catches in critical moments. The 50-50 ball he won on third down against Buffalo is a reception he wouldn’t have converted earlier in the season. He’ll probably never be a great jump ball winner, but if he can approach average, that will go a long way in rounding out the rest of his skillset:

What sets Worthy apart from other similarly fast receivers who were unable to succeed in the NFL is his change of direction ability. He’s capable of sinking his hips and exploding out of breaks unlike most receivers who run in the 4.2’s.

Worthy is extremely difficult to mirror on whip routes, which have resulted in four third down conversions this year. The first play against Buffalo extended a drive to end the second half, which Worthy capped off with an 11-yard touchdown reception:

He also has the fluidity to separate on comebacks and deep outs, which should make up a much greater portion of his route tree next year. The threat of Worthy’s speed causes defenders to give him extra cushion and forces them to lean backwards when he pushes vertically, creating more space to separate underneath:

Kansas City has started to run this flood concept later in the season, with Worthy as the #3 and the vertical clearout serving as a rub route on his defender. It wouldn’t surprise me if they go to this play in a high leverage situation in the Super Bowl:

I think the injuries the Chiefs have faced at wide receiver will end up being a blessing in disguise. The Chiefs have been forced to accelerate Worthy’s development track earlier than they initially expected, and now that Marquise Brown is healthy, they can reap the benefits of Worthy’s development. Instead of being a one-dimensional gadget receiver with a limited range of impact, Worthy has a diverse skillset and route tree that Philadelphia will have to devote more resources towards stopping.  The return of Marquise Brown has also increased Worthy’s alignment versatility and diverted attention away from him.

In addition to his short-term impact, Worthy’s expanded role as a rookie makes his offseason development a lot easier to project. The list of things he needs to improve or add to his game will be much shorter this summer, since he already had to make a lot of those jumps in his first year.

Tags: Chiefs offense, deep threat, Kansas City Chiefs See More

James Foster

NFL Analyst

James Foster is an NFL writer who creates film-based analysis of NFL players and teams. He previously worked for A to Z Sports.

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