Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy has come a long way in his first NFL season.
Known for setting the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL Combine history, Worthy entered the league primarily viewed as a deep-threat specialist. However, as the season progressed, he expanded his game, becoming a more versatile weapon in head coach Andy Reid’s offense.
“They were just mixing up their coverages, making sure nothing got past them,” Worthy said. “I expected that a lot from defenses, so really, my game has improved on the underneath stuff. They got to figure that out now.”
Like many rookies, Worthy experienced growing pains early in the season but found his confidence and became a reliable option in the Chiefs’ passing attack in the second half of the year. He finished the regular season with 59 receptions for 638 receiving yards and a total of nine touchdowns.
His impact carried into his first two postseason games, where he has already recorded 11 catches on 13 targets, 130 receiving yards and a key touchdown in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills.
A major factor in Worthy’s development has been learning from Kansas City’s veteran receiving corps. With future Hall of Famers like Travis Kelce and DeAndre Hopkins, an established veteran like Hollywood Brown and a breakout second-year player in Rashee Rice, Worthy has had invaluable mentors to guide him through his rookie season.
“My development throughout the season — I got to give kudos to my guys like Travis Kelce, [Hopkins], Hollywood and Rashee,” Worthy said. “They really helped me out and made it easier to figure out stuff and give me all the little tours. Travis gave me basically just finding the zone and sitting in zones. You don’t have to keep running. So, that really helped out a lot.”
One of Worthy’s biggest influences, however, isn’t on the Chiefs’ roster. Former Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowler receiver DeSean Jackson — a player Reid once coached and one of his era’s most electrifying deep threats — has been a blueprint for Worthy’s development.
“I feel like it was just a perfect fit,” Worthy said of joining the Chiefs. “I feel like Andy Reid had a perfect offense for me to come in and learn. [In] DeSean Jackson — he had a guy similar to me, so he kind of knew how to use a receiver like me.”
As Worthy prepares to face Jackson’s former team in the Super Bowl, he hopes to channel that same explosiveness on football’s biggest stage.
“I try to emulate my game after DeSean Jackson,” Worthy said. “He’s arguably one of my favorite players of all time, so I try to emulate after him.
“His ability to get the ball and make a play, regardless whether that’s a punt return, bubble screen, deep ball, or catching the ball on a slant and going 80 — just his ability to score from anywhere on the field.”
