Chiefs trade up for speed threat, Worthy in round one
Tyler Brown
Speed is officially back in Kansas City after making a trade with the Buffalo Bills to move up from 32 to pick 28 to select Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. After the big run on wide receivers never really came, the Chiefs moved up to go get their man, taking the fifth wideout in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The last time the Chiefs traded with the Bills in the first round of the NFL draft it worked out pretty well for Kansas City. In 2017 the Chiefs made a deal with Buffalo that landed them eventual three-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Seven years later the two get together again, even with them being arch rivals, to secure Mahomes a deep threat for at least the next four to five seasons.
While Worthy did set an NFL Combine record back in February, posting a 4.21 40-yard dash, he is not just a deep threat. He is a nuanced route runner, has elite ball-tracking ability, creates space with the best of them and is a threat to score any time he touches the ball.
The 20-year-old can play all wide receiver positions, which historically head coach Andy Reid likes to have his receivers do. He can stretch the field whether it is from the outside or the slot, which should complement Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce while they roam the middle of the field. Worthy played 895 snaps out wide to 405 out of the slot throughout his college career.
Both he and the newly acquired Hollywood Brown have inside-out versatility and can attack the short, intermediate and deep levels of the field. Another aspect that comes from his other-worldly speed is his ability to take a screen pass to the house, which is a staple in the Reid offense.
The highly drafted record-breaking speed guys from the combine have often been busts in the league because teams fall in love with the speed and ignore the actual production they had in college. Now, we will see what Worthy’s career becomes, but the same cannot be said for him. The speedster was ridiculously productive from the jump, posting 981 yards and 12 touchdowns as an 18-year-old freshman. He followed that up with a decent sophomore campaign tallying 757 yards and eight touchdowns before having a career season in 2023, racking up 1,014 yards and five touchdowns.
The two knocks on Worthy are his size and concentration drops from time to time. He has adequate height at five-foot-11 but weighs just 165 pounds. While he could run into some issues when facing press-man corners, he is such a good mover without the ball that he avoids contact well. Reid has also had success with Desean Jackson, who has a similar body-type. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith and Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell are other body-comps that have had a lot of success.
Reid is renowned for scheming guys open and Mahomes prefers to throw to open guys rather than chucking up 50-50 balls so Worthy should fit right in. In terms of the drops, he is not a body catcher so there is reason that it gets cleaned up a bit. Rice proved last season that people will get over a few drops here and there as long as you produce.
AFC opponents surely are not happy the Chiefs have added Brown and now Worthy to go along with the strong core of Kelce and Rice. The Chiefs still have a hole to fill at left tackle and a backup running back spot, but the offense should be much more dangerous in 2024 after a frustrating 2023 that struggled to have reliable and game-breaking pass catchers.
The terms of the deal sent pick 32, 95 and 221 to Buffalo in exchange for the 28th pick that resulted in Worthy, 133 and 248. With this move, the Chiefs no longer have a third-round pick and currently just have one pick in day two of the draft. Round two begins Friday at 6 p.m. CDT.
