ClutchPoints
When Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs decided to trade up in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft to select Texas speedster Xavier Worthy 28th overall, fans were left with one prevailing thought across the board: Andy Reid just landed the next DeSean Jackson.
On paper, it makes sense, right? While Worthy technically smoked Jackson and every other player for that matter with his record-breaking 4.21 40-yard dash time, D-Jax is widely considered the best deep threat of his generation for his prime with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, who routinely hauled in game-changing catches in addition to making “miracles” in the return game.
Give Worthy a chance to play that same role in Reid’s offense, and surely he would be set up for long-term success, right? Granted, few receivers have Jackson’s effortless acceleration and incredible vision, but 4.21 speed is 4.21 speed, and there aren’t many cornerbacks who can keep up if the Longhorn gets a clean release off the line.
Well, as it turns out, Reid had that exact same thought in mind when the Chiefs traded up for Jackson, too, telling Colin Cowherd on The Herd that his experience coaching D-Jax directly influenced his desire and plan to coach Worthy at the NFL level.
“I was lucky to have Desean Jackson, so he and Desean are the same body type. Sometimes you put the little guys in a certain category, but listen, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do plus a little bit more. That’s kind of where you’ve got to go with it,” Reid explained. “Some guys aren’t willing to do what we’ve asked him to do. I think Hollywood has been a good example to him because Hollywood isn’t the biggest guy either but he wants to do everything. So he comes up through that room and has a good example there. You could be a great coach and teacher, but if the player isn’t willing to do the things, then it’s not going to work. He’s so willing to do everything.”
Standing 5-foot-11, 165 pounds with middle-of-the-road arm length and medium-sized hands, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com actually compared the collegiate Longhorn to Tank Dell due to his speed, gadget abilities, and uncertain NFL role. But when you watch him play in the NFL, Worthy is a straight-up D-Jax clone, right down to his ability to vary his speed to give opposing cornerbacks fits. Give him some time to figure out his game at the NFL level, and the Bills might be kicking themselves for a very long time about effectively handing the speedster to Patrick Mahomes and company.
Starting 13 of the 17 games he appeared in for the Chiefs in 2024, Worthy had a solid enough rookie regular season, catching 59 of the 98 balls thrown his way for 638 yards and six touchdowns. While those aren’t WR1 numbers, which was the role he was initially cast in, he looked much more comfortable when DeAndre Hopkins joined the...
