Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Leads team with eight targets
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Worthy had three receptions (eight targets) for 19 yards and added one carry for five yards in Sunday's 28-18 win over San Francisco.
Worthy continued to operate as the Chiefs' top wideout sans Rashee Rice (knee) in Week 7, churning out a similar stat line to his previous start Week 5. The 21-year-old Worthy was unable to hit pay dirt like he did against the Saints, but he did lead Kansas City in targets (eight) on a day when the ground game led the team to victory. The speedy wideout did exit Sunday's contest briefly to be evaluated in the medical tent, but he promptly returned to action and finished the contest without issue. Worthy carries fantasy value in his elevated role, with fantasy managers hoping for a big play or two against a rebuilding Raiders squad next Sunday.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Rushing TD in Week 5 win
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Worthy secured three of six targets for 25 yards and rushed once for a three-yard touchdown in the Chiefs' 26-13 win over the Saints on Monday night. He also recovered a Carson Steele fumble.
Worthy entered the night as the Chiefs' de facto No. 1 receiver due to Rashee Rice's (IR, knee) absence, but he watched Travis Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster command the bulk of Patrick Mahomes' attention. Worthy finished third in targets behind his two teammates, and he would have had a relatively uneventful night had it not been for his early fourth-quarter touchdown rush, his second score on the ground and fourth trip to the end zone overall. Worthy should work into a progressively larger role in coming games, and he'll next take aim at the talented but inconsistent 49ers defense in a Week 7 road Super Bowl rematch following a Week 6 bye.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Catches long touchdown
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Worthy recorded three catches on four targets for 73 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 17-10 win over the Chargers.
Worthy is the last of Kansas City's projected top three wide receivers to be healthy, with both Rashee Rice (knee) and Hollywood Brown (shoulder) sidelined for the long term. Worthy likely won't take on huge target volume, but he still showed what he can do with consistent opportunity after breaking free on a go route for a 54-yard touchdown just before halftime. Worthy is likely to remain a boom-bust fantasy option moving forward, but his snap rate should increase significantly while giving his production the opportunity to follow.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Held to three touches again
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Worthy caught two of four targets for 17 yards and added a five-yard run in Sunday's 26-25 win over the Bengals.
Worthy scored touchdowns on two of his three touches in his NFL debut, but the speedster didn't make as much of the same volume in his second NFL game. The rookie first-round draft pick's role could expand as the season goes on, as the Chiefs will be without Hollywood Brown (shoulder) for the rest of the regular season, leaving Worthy as the top candidate to work as the team's No. 2 wide receiver behind Rashee Rice, who was the only player to exceed 22 receiving yards for Kansas City against the Bengals. Worthy will look to expand his usage in Week 3 against the Falcons.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Two-TD pro debut in win
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Worthy caught two of three targets for 47 yards and a touchdown and rushed once for a 21-yard score in the Chiefs' 27-20 win over the Ravens on Thursday night.
The first-round pick wasted no time translating his stopwatch-busting speed into a game situation, scoring the Chiefs' first touchdown of the campaign on a 21-yard end around just past the midway point of the first quarter. Worthy blew past the Ravens' defense on that play and then took advantage of a miscommunication in the secondary on his 35-yard TD grab down the right sideline in the fourth quarter. He's already finding success as a big-play threat and could see more snaps/targets Week 2 against the Bengals.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Finds preseason end zone
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Worthy caught three passes for 63 yards and one touchdown on six targets in Saturday's preseason game against Detroit. He also rushed once for 11 yards.
Worthy played extensively with the first-team offense, drawing five of Patrick Mahomes' 14 passes and catching two receptions for 40 yards before catching his only Carson Wentz target for a 22-yard touchdown, a play on which he impressively got open with ease. The 21-year-old rookie still needs plenty of seasoning, and at just 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, he's also in need of further physical development. However, the Chiefs are clearly making it a priority to get Worthy involved quickly, and that should accelerate once the regular season begins.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Returns to practice
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Worthy (illness) returned to practice Friday, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.
It isn't ideal for a rookie to miss spring practices with a hamstring injury and now four days of training camp due to an illness, but he's back on the field Friday and has plenty of time to make an impression before Week 1. Selected 28th overall this spring after running the 40-yard dash in a combine-record 4.21 seconds, Worthy is part of a WR room where Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown are the top veterans. The team also has three early draft picks from prior years -- Kadarius Toney, Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore -- but at this point they're all viewed as disappointments and likely are competing for backup roles or special-teams snaps more so than top-three spots at wide receiver. Rice and Justin Watson (foot) are the only returning WRs that got a lot of playing time for the Chiefs last season.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Back on practice field
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Worthy (hamstring) participated in Wednesday's practice session, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reports.
Worthy appears to have recovered from the left hamstring injury that kept him sidelined throughout OTAs and mandatory minicamp, and though he missed a few plays Wednesday due to a hand issue, he was back on the field and catching passes from Ian Book by the end of the session. Per Matt McMullen of the Chiefs' official site, the team is currently hosting a "pre-camp" introduction for quarterbacks and rookies, which includes three practices before training camp officially kicks off Sunday. Patrick Mahomes said Tuesday that Worthy won't be eased into action come camp, according to Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com, so the rookie first-round pick should be competing for notable practice reps before long.
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Chiefs' Xavier Worthy: Kansas City snatches 28th overall
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The Chiefs selected Worthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 28th overall.
The Chiefs traded up from the 32nd pick to secure Worthy, the owner of the fastest combine 40 time on record (4.21 seconds). Worthy (5-foot-11, 165 pounds) and free-agent pickup Marquise Brown are both tiny speedsters who are loath to face much physicality from a defense, so it remains to be seen how well the two coexist in 2024, but in the meantime it's clear that the Chiefs are hammering a speed emphasis this offseason. Despite Worthy's struggles with contact and his history of dropped passes at Texas, he could prove uniquely dangerous with a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes.
