Xavier Worthy Scouting Report  

Worthy produced across all three seasons at Texas.

He totaled 197 catches, 2,755 yards, and 26 TDs with four different QBs.

Worthy dusted Big 12 DBs with rare speed, burst, and acceleration.

He weighs only 165 pounds, though – the same as the day he stepped on campus.

Is Worthy on a DeVonta Smith-like path? Or does his profile make him a bust -- even in Kansas City?  

Xavier Worthy Draft Profile

Xavier Worthy Combine Results

Percentiles vs Combine WRs since 1999, per MockDraftable

Xavier Worthy College Stats

Worthy Starts Fast

The four-star recruit chose Texas over other high-profile offers such as Alabama and Michigan.

He delivered immediately alongside first-year starting QB Casey Thompson:

• 28.7% of the receptions
• 36.2% of the receiving yards
• 41.3% of the receiving TDs

The undersized speedster hit the national stage with big games against Kansas (14-152-3) and Oklahoma (9-261-2).

But would his momentum carry into 2022?

QB Change Leads to Lower Efficiency 

Worthy remained the lead receiver for Texas, pacing the team in catches, yards, and TDs.

He didn’t build off the excellent freshman campaign, though.

Worthy’s catch rate dropped from 63% to 52.2% with five-star transfer Quinn Ewers at QB.

One reason why: Worthy’s average depth of target spiked to 17.6 -- but produced a career-low 12.8 yards per catch. He also tallied a career-worst drop rate (10.6%).

HC Steve Sarkisian later shared that Worthy played roughly half of the season with a fractured finger.

Another Productive Campaign in ‘23

For the third straight season, Worthy led Texas in catches and yards. A career-high 119 targets certainly helped. 

And that was with the arrival of WR Adonai Mitchell, a potential Round 1 pick. Worthy also battled a late-season ankle injury.

The junior even cleaned up the drops a bit (6.3%), although he posted his worst season in contested situations (23.8%).

In a three-year sample, Worthy’s at a subpar 34.1% contested catch rate.

Call it unsurprising for a 5’11, 165-pounder. Still, the Chiefs should be able to work around that deficiency.

Let’s see how Texas utilized him … 

Xavier Worthy Highlights

Games watched: Kansas State (2023), BYU (2023), Texas Tech (2023), TCU (2023), Iowa State (2023), Alabama (2023 and 2022)

Pure Speed

Speed is clearly Worthy's biggest strength. 

He's the fastest WR in the draft and will instantly be one of the fastest athletes league-wide.

In the first clip, we see Worthy's elusiveness on screens. He makes the catch behind the line of scrimmage against BYU and maneuvers well past the first-down marker.

Texas recognized that and fed him easy opportunities. Nearly 23% of his catches came on screens. For his career, Worthy averaged a strong 7.3 yards after catch per reception.

On tape, you can see how defenses respect Worthy's deep speed. In this second clip, he does well to sell a vertical route before snapping it off. Then, we see him easily evade an oncoming DB before turning on the jets. 

Quite simply -- he's dangerous in one-on-one situations.

Worthy had his moments as a downfield weapon, but it's important to note that it wasn't a major part of his game. Shaky QB play contributed to just a 25.5% career catch rate on deep balls (20+ air yards). 

In this next clip, Worthy overcomes tight coverage from fifth-year 'Bama CB Jaylen Key (6'2, 210). Again, this wasn't a common occurrence in his tape. But Worthy's olympic speed supplies a chance to separate from any coverage.

In the final clip, we see Worthy's play-strength limitations. You could call this a good play by the Iowa State DB to break it up -- and it is. But Worthy could still have caught it.

Worthy measured in with small hands at the Combine: 8.75 inches, placing him in the ninth percentile among WRs.

As the contested numbers say, this clip wasn't an isolated case.  

Xavier Worthy Team Fit: Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs traded up from pick No. 32 to snag Worthy 28th overall.

It's clear the Chiefs value his rare speed, a sentiment echoed by HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach.

"It's a speed game and the more speed you have on the field, the harder it is for defenses to take away different elements of the game,'' Veach said during the draft. He also mentioned Worthy's versatility. 

As of this writing, the Chiefs are waiting to hear word on Rashee Rice's suspension. But even when he's active, there's a lack of WR depth in K.C. So Worthy's arrival -- alongside Patrick Mahomes -- is perfectly timed.