| Kiimo |
04-25-2024 09:57 PM |
After BTJ went to Jacksonville I immediately wanted this.
Sorry if Q, from Seth Keysor:
Quote:
In this year’s “know your draft crush” series, I’m once again examining various wide receivers the Chiefs could target in early rounds of the draft. Fortunately, the 2024 draft is packed with good WR prospects. In an attempt to figure out who would be the best fit in Kansas City, I’m looking at as many as possible, breaking down the film to look at the same traits for each player: Speed/acceleration/agility, releases, route running, hands/catch point work, YAC/playmaking, and an overall takeaway. Here are the guys we’ve looked at so far:
In today’s edition of “know your Chiefs draft crush,” we’ll be looking at Xavier Worthy, a player who has been connected (mostly through speculation based on history/preference of the team) with the Chiefs more often than almost anyone else in the draft. Worthy blew up the combine with a record-setting 4.21 40-yard dash and is widely considered (for good reason) one of the most electric playmakers in the draft. However, he’s undersized and many have questions about how he’ll adapt to the NFL given that limitation.
One of the great things about Worthy’s college career is that he’s played future NFL cornerbacks on several occasions, so we can dive into the film to try and answer whether he has the traits to translate to the next level. Is he Mecole Hardman (all due respect to a 3-time Super Bowl Champion) or Desean Jackson (or Hollywood Brown, or Tank Dell, etc)? As we all know, speed alone isn’t enough in the NFL. And not all speed translates to the field, and is harnessed correctly.
But sometimes it does, and when that happens it’s absolutely (apologies to Travis Kelce) electric. Let’s talk about it.
Xavier Worthy - Texas
Relevant measurements - 5’11”, 165 pounds
Games reviewed - Alabama, Houston, Oklahoma, TCU, Kansas State (2022), Alabama (2022)
(NOTE - Most of the video clips I’ll use will be to highlight positive traits, because they’re more fun to watch. But that doesn’t make the negative traits for a prospect any less real… it just means I like to show the fun things!)
-Speed / acceleration / agility-
Holy crap.
Look, as soon as you hear “4.21 40” your brain probably shuts off a bit when it comes to talking about speed. But it shouldn’t. Because as I said above, not all speedsters translate once the pads come on, or understand how to harness their speed in a way that grabs separation.
Xavier Worthy is not one of those guys.
Worthy’s speed shows up on film at all levels of the field, but in particular on deep routes (whether it’s a post, go, corner, deep crosser, whatever). He can absolutely fly in pads and can not only separate once he’s even with ease, but he can chew up ground on a defender with leverage and still be separated by the time he’s down the field.
Worthy isn’t just a “long speed” guy either. He accelerates terrifically and is able to grab separation fast on short and intermediate routes with good explosion off the line and when he cuts. His combination of quickness, acceleration, and long speed is legitimately difficult to find, and he utilizes it very effectively while varying his “gear” depending on what the situation calls for.
What I mean by this is that Worthy isn’t constantly sprinting 100 miles per hour. He seems to have a good grasp on the weapon that his speed/acceleration is and when to harness it. People talk a lot about “tempo” in route running (we’ll get more into that later), and Worthy does it well, setting a good pace for when to flip the switch and just sprint right past defenders who can’t keep up.
You can see when Worthy kicks it into 6th gear on this play. And when he does, the defender doesn’t have a chance unless he’s already sprinting deep. And Worthy helps avoid this with the tempo he runs it, saving the afterburners until he’s made his final cut. That’s utilization of speed that not every “sprinter” type shows at the NFL level, and it’s something that separates him from the Ross’s and Hardman’s of the world (who don’t have that same ability to effectively utilize their speed in pads).
Worthy, also has very good quickness (though not on the “God-tier” level his speed and acceleration are, which separates him from Tyreek Hill, whose freakishness extended to quickness as well) that allows him to start/stop and change direction well. Because he’s high level in all of these areas, he’s able to weaponize his athleticism all over the field and in multiple routes as opposed to being just a deep speed merchant. He also shows very good explosion with his first step, both off the line and in his breaks when he needs to separate at that point.
Worthy’s athleticism in all three aspects is something that sets him apart from the vast majority of prospects, and I cannot stress enough just how much of a mistake it would be to lump him in with failed speedsters who didn’t have the whole package as an athlete.
-Release ability-
The biggest question I get about Worthy is how he can handle press man coverage. I would note that this concern is generally a bit overblown because people get focused on a few highlights, but the reality is that true press man is pretty rare in the pros as well as college for a variety of reasons. The more important question is whether a receiver can get a clean release at the line without having the timing of the route screwed up, whether it’s pure press or a defender being physical right off the line.
Worthy was generally able to do so, in large part because of his combination of quickness and explosion. Defenders have a hard time getting hands on him because he has the ability to go horizontal and grab space from them, then push upfield to get “even” so fast that they can’t grab him without risking a hold.
This is the primary weapon Worthy utilizes to get himself free releases. He’s quick enough that he can skip a step to the side, then explodes fast enough to get away from potential leverage from the cornerback. He’s also more comfortable with contact than some smaller receivers (like McConkey, who despite being bigger than Worthy was slowed more frequently by contact throughout his routes and at the line) and appears to have a little more fluidity in dipping his shoulder to get around contact that’s offered at the line.
Because of Worthy’s size, if defenders are able to get a square punch on him they can jar and slow him at the line. However, because of his ability to prevent that square punch and his ability to dip around/through it, that only happened once or twice in the multiple games I watched (and plenty of corners tried it). The problem defenders faced is that his ability to get even quickly and then walk away is so dangerous that utilizing physicality at the line was too risky.
When a guy can stutter and explode into his route like that, it’s incredibly difficult to stay in front of him. And if you can’t stay in front of him, you can’t press him. That led to problems for every CB he faced at the college level, including several future pros. There’s just no safe way to press someone who can get even and then leave you behind this quickly.
I think that may stay the same at the NFL level. That agility COMBINED with the first step explosion is a terrific answer to press.
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