Chiefs' first-round pick shuts down weight concerns
Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs traded up in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft to land former Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
There’s no doubt that Worthy can take the top off NFL defenses after running the fastest 40-yard dash (4.21 seconds) in NFL Scouting Combine history. However, some believe his size (6-foot-1, 172 pounds) could be a problem at the next level.
Worthy disagrees.
“I weighed in at 169 (pounds),” Worthy said, via Jordan Foote of FanNation’s Arrowhead Report “I don’t think I took big hits, I delivered them. I feel like it’s not going to be a problem. I feel like just understanding your strengths and your weaknesses, I feel like that’s the big thing in the league. Don’t, obviously, don’t try to go hit a 250-pound linebacker.”
There have been several supposedly undersized players who have had success in the NFL, and Worthy clearly believes he can be the next one. Head coach Andy Reid agrees, comparing him to a three-time Pro Bowler he had the opportunity to coach in Philadelphia.
“DeSean Jackson — probably body type a little more like DeSean,” Reid said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Like Worthy, Jackson entered the NFL around 170 pounds, and he went onto have an impressive 15-year career.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt for Worthy to point on some more weight, but if he can live up to the comparison of Jackson, Kansas City’s offense will be difficult to defend. He believes he’ll be able to do just that, thanks to Reid.
“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.”
Only time will tell if Worthy can flourish like Jackson, but he and the Chiefs seem confident he will after he led the Big 12 in receiving yards (2,755) and receiving touchdowns (26) over the past three seasons.
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