When the Kansas City Chiefs selected wide receiver Xavier Worthy with their first-round pick in last spring’s draft, they knew there would be a learning curve — just as there is for any rookie pass-catcher in head coach Andy Reid’s system.
Reid’s playbook contains extensive verbiage requiring receivers like Worthy to master each and every position on the football field. Last season, then-rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice contributed early but didn’t become a focal point for the offense until about Week 11.
Entering Week 15, it seems that Worthy, who leads Kansas City with 202 receiving yards over the past four games, is right on the cusp of a rookie breakout.
“He’s getting better and better,” said quarterback Patrick Mahomes of Worthy on Wednesday. “I think he’s just playing with such more confidence. I think it really started in Buffalo. It’s just kind of kept getting bigger and bigger as we kind of went throughout the rest of this year. I think as – like we said, as I train those deep passes and really show off his skill doing that. He’s getting open, so [I’m] just trying to hit him on some of those, but he’s showing his versatility and how he’s able to work underneath, catch the ball, get yards after the catch and stuff like that.”
Against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14, Worthy finished with five receptions for 41 yards — but no catch was more critical than his last and longest: the 14-yarder on third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter to extend the Chiefs’ game-winning drive.
During the play, the pocket collapses, and Mahomes navigates his way to the left side of the protection, creating just enough room for his signature jump-pass. Lined up to Mahomes’ right, Worthy runs a post to the middle of the field, only to break off his route and provide the quarterback a window.
“On third down, we’ve got to move the chains, and so you have the route — you have to run the same route at the right depth, but then, at the end of the day, we’ve got to move the chains, and we’ve got to get the first down,” said pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier on Thursday. “[Worthy’s] kind of been able to separate, and it’s a very small, just a subtle difference — but he’s been able to show up in those downs and distance and move the chains.”
Bleymaier explained that the concept can be difficult for a rookie who has enough on his plate as it is. With more experience, the player grows more comfortable in working off-script.
On this particular third-down try, Bleymaier said Worthy had the deep route but adjusted his position at precisely the right time.
“[Worthy] was running it, he was ready and in the right spot, and then the clock just went off in his head: ‘The ball should be thrown by now. It’s not. Let me turn around and figure out why.’
“He sees Pat. He finds the open space, and then Pat makes an unbelievable throw, and he makes the catch. So yeah… That timing in his head, where maybe on first or second down, early in the year, he’s just running all the way down the field toward the back pylon.”
At a certain point each season, rookies garner enough game experience that they are — in a way — able to function as second-year players. According to the coaching staff — and, more importantly, his quarterback — that has happened for Worthy over the past month.
“I think he’s going to be continuing to get better and better which is going to help us going into the postseason,” concluded Mahomes.
