Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy is making headlines early in his NFL career. It makes sense, since he caught everyone’s eye in the Draft Combine before joining the defending Super Bowl champions, who are chasing an unprecedented three-peat under Andy Reid.
While the Chiefs are off to an 8-0 start to the 2024 NFL season, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Worthy, whose inexperience shows at times. Fortunately, the wideout has full support from the head coach.
“He’s doing a good job. He just had that look of stepping out of bounds there. I mean, but what a great route. That was an adjustment he made to put himself in that position off of the route,” Reid said of Worthy, via Chiefs Wire. “He’s doing a good job. He didn’t have his number dialed up as much as he did the weeks in the past. I mean, most of the stuff going to (Travis) Kelce and “Eight” (DeAndre Hopkins). But there’ll be weeks like that; his numbers called up more. That just says how it goes in these games.”
Reid addressed a missed catch by Worthy in the Chiefs’ first drive against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, when a long pass from Patrick Mahomes almost set him up for a touchdown. The wideout failed to seize that opportunity by stepping out of bounds, but Reid made sure to warn the rest of the NFL that this lesson will make Worthy stronger.
Xavier Worthy #1 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs to score a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens during the first quarter at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 05, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri.
“They plotted that side. He adjusted back outside and was able to escape where you get yourself forced wide. He was able to keep himself in bounds and escape that corner, not force him wider than the play normally brings you to so. But I thought he did a great job on that part. He’ll learn from that, young guy. He’ll learn from it. You won’t see him step out of bounds very often,” Reid said. “It was good, he can take something positive out of it, and then he could take something he can learn from out of it, too.”
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Worthy’s promising NFL debut set the bar high on the Chiefs
Worthy’s impressive NFL debut against the Baltimore Ravens led many to believe he’d immediately become a key player in the Chiefs‘ offense. However, the truth is that he wasn’t targeted too many times by Mahomes that night.
The Texas product made the most of his opportunities though, making two catches in three targets for 47 yards and a touchdown, apart from rushing for six points in a 21-yard run in the 2024 NFL season opener.
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Worthy’s targets on Chiefs could be limited
Worthy’s number of targets didn’t see a significant increase until Week 7, when Mahomes threw eight passes to the rookie WR. That number was repeated in the following week against the Las Vegas Raiders, and while Worthy scored a touchdown, he caught only half of those passes.
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And now that DeAndre Hopkins is getting familiar with the offense, chances are that Worthy’s targets will continue to be limited. On Monday, he was targeted only twice. One of those passes was just inches away from being a completion, and probably a touchdown, though.
Therefore, Worthy may need to seize the chances he gets to try and make an impact for the Reids. But fortunately, Reid is not putting any pressure on the rookie, as the coach understands the wideout is just getting started. And that’s exactly why he warns the rest of the NFL not to write him off.
