KC Chiefs believe WR Xavier Worthy could make rookie jump “similar” to Rashee Rice

One of the greatest stories of Kansas City ChiefsThe 2023-24 season was wide receiver Rashee Rice’s blossoming year. Between Week 1 and the end of the campaign, the second-round pick grew on offense and became a top target in the passing game.

With Rice out for the rest of his sophomore effort, could this year’s rookie do something similar? No. 28 overall pick Xavier Worthy is experiencing a mixed debut with Kansas City, posting respectable stats but failing to make the overall impact many hoped for when he was drafted in April.

Given the expectations for Worthy, how does the team feel about his prospects moving forward? Pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier believes the first-year man is making progress and could have a similar developmental arc to Rice’s a year ago.

“I think that’s fair, it’s a good observation,” Bleymaier said. “Regardless, I think, of what some of the stats say, last year especially with Rashee, every week he grew and became more and more comfortable in both what we were doing and what he was best at for him to be able to achieve this. And very similar to Xavier, he comes in and you want to focus on what he’s good at and then you want to give him complementary things. He’s getting more comfortable in those routes or those maneuvers against the defense. Maybe he wasn’t as comfortable as he was earlier in the season. That doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but as the season goes on, that comfort level starts to show with him winning routes and catching passes.

If Worthy could replicate this production, it would be a truly impressive feat. Not many saw it for Rice through the first seven games. In Weeks 1-7 last year, he had 34 targets and 26 receptions for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Entering the Chiefs’ eighth game, Worthy has 37 targets, 19 receptions, 235 yards and three scores. He also has a higher target share (24) in games five, six and seven than Rice did (15). To top it off, he received more snaps (296) than Rice (198) when comparing starts as well.

The rest was history for Rice, who finished with over 900 yards and seven touchdowns. Worthy, on the other hand, is given more opportunities but fails to convert when faced in man coverage or thrown a bone by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes doesn’t have the same chemistry with Worthy yet. Bleymaier still believes that even when the numbers don’t show it, Worthy is winning in new ways.

“I wish we could go on the clicker and show you all,” Bleymaier said. “We would be here all day. There’s where he’s really skilled is when he sets up a guy and uses his speed not just to run by someone and score a deep touchdown, but also to stop and change direction. And then Maneuver how the defense plays him underneath, where previously, he might have run into traffic or gotten stuck one way.

Just last month, head coach Andy Reid praised Worthy for being a “learn fast.“From an effort or a positive point of view, there’s no denying what he can do. A direct comparison to a rookie Rice seems wrong, especially given the differences in the workloads of both players on offense. Traits — understanding coverages, improving hand-fighting, becoming more physical and learning from mistakes — can evolve similarly, though.

That’s exactly what the Chiefs seem to be banking on as Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers approaches.

“All that stuff, very similar to what you said,” Bleymaier said. “Especially Week (9), I think we’ve got to start continuing to grow him with routes outside of his comfort level and then that can bring him back to the things he’s really good at — giving the defense a different look. That’s what we did with Rashee all last year: We kept giving him the things he was great at and then we challenged him and pushed him so the defense couldn’t just hang on one or two things.”

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