KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The remodeling of the Kansas City receiver room continued in Thursday night’s first round of the 2024 NFL Draft as the Chiefs moved up four spots to No. 28 in nabbing fleet-footed playmaker Xavier Worthy.
Worthy made a name for himself at this year’s NFL Combine when he set a new event record with a 4.21-second time in the 40-yard dash but he’s coming to Kansas City hoping to prove he’s much more than a speedster.
“I’m coming with a mentality to work hard and earn my spot, earn my spot in the locker,” Worthy said after his selection Thursday night. “I feel like I can play receiver, I can run the whole route tree, disciplined, smart, know the game very well. So I plan on bringing them the complete receiver set to Kansas City.”
Head coach Andy Reid said he expects Worthy to work in the rotation as a receiver along with Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice as well as serve as the team’s return specialist.
“We think he’s a heck of a football player No. 1, he does a few different things,” Reid said. “He’s a good wide receiver and also a good special teams returner. He’ll end up doing both to start things off with, and he’ll just work into that rotation when we get him, the wide receiver rotation with Hollywood and Rashee and (Travis) Kelce and the other folks. It should give Pat another weapon there of which to use.”
General manager Brett Veach agrees that Worthy brings a missing element to the Kansas City offense.
“Just our ability to play vertical and have speed on the field at all times, having Xavier and Hollywood I think will make life easier for Travis and Rashee. As the season goes on here, I think we’ll have an offense that can attack in multiple different ways and always keep defenses guessing.”
The 5-11, 165-pound Worthy will be among the smallest players in the NFL. There were only six receivers to play in the NFL last season listed at 165 pounds or lighter, plus a kicker. Houston’s Tank Dell (709 yards) and Tutu Atwell (483 yards) of the Los Angeles Rams were the only players of that size to eclipse 200 yards receiving.
The last player under 165 pounds to record a 1,000-yard receiving season was Atlanta’s Stacey Bailey (1,138) in 1984. Extending the weight up to 170 pounds adds three more receivers to pull off that feat since 1984: Houston’s Drew Hill did it five times while Minnesota’s Anthony Carter pulled it off in three seasons, and Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith has done it in each of the last two seasons.
Worthy sees his size as a motivating factor rather than an obstacle.
“I’m a small guy, small player, so I kind of pride myself on just being a difference maker,” Worthy said. “Somebody that’s going to make a play, whether that’s being tough, making a big play, blocking, receiving the ball, special teams, anything. I always pride myself on heart and I feel like that’s what motivates me and makes me different.”
Veach said he believe Worthy can adjust and adapt quickly to the NFL. Worthy turns 21 on Saturday, and only two receivers in this year’s draft are younger than him: LSU’s Malik Nabers and Florida State’s Keon Coleman. Coleman is just 20 days younger than Worthy.
“Anyone at any position, once you get to this level there will be a continual growth and maturation process,” Veach said. “We’ll have him with our dietitian and our weight staff. We’re not going to make him 200 pounds, but also keep him at the 175-180 mark I think will be a healthy weight for him.” It will all make sense, and like I said, all these guys are going to have to get bigger and stronger just from the marathon of the season, just to survive more games.”
While Worthy’s speed invites comparisons to Tyreek Hill, it’s a different former receiver under Reid to whom Worthy compares himself. Former Philadelphia receiver DeSean Jackson was Worthy’s favorite player as a kid.
“It makes me at ease just to see a coach that drafted a guy similar to me as well and him having
the success he had in this system under Andy Reid,” Worthy said. “It’s just amazing to be able to have a
coach that actually gets you as a player and knows you as a player because he’s had that player before.”
Worthy was the fifth receiver to go off the board after Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze all went within the first nine selections. When LSU’s Biran Thomas Jr. went to Jacksonville at No. 23, Veach was ready to strike. Two more receivers went after Worthy in the first round with Florida’s Ricky Persall going to San Francisco at No. 31 and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette landing with Carolina at No. 32.
The Chiefs acquired No. 28 from the Buffalo Bills by swapping selections later in the draft. The Chiefs swapped first-round selections (No. 32) while also sending the Bills a third-round selection (No. 95) and a seventh-round choice (No. 221). In return, Kansas City received a fourth-round choice (No. 133) and a seventh-round pick (No. 248).
As the Chiefs were finalizing the trade with Buffalo and getting ready to turn in their selection to the NFL, Veach shot quarterback Patrick Mahomes a text with the choice. The quarterback replied with a thumbs-up emoji, and then tweeted a smiling face with sunglasses and followed that up with
Worth said he’s been telling his friends since the beginning of the year that he would become teammates with Mahomes, and now he is.
“Everybody dreams of playing with Patrick Mahomes,” Worthy said. “Probably one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Just to be able to play for him, everybody talks about it but I’ve been saving it for a while.
“‘I’m going to be a Chief.’ I just put it in the air, and now I’m here. It’s amazing.”
