KC chiefs believe WR Xavier Worthy can make a rookie leap “similar to” Rashee Rice

One of the greatest stories of the Kansas City ChiefsIn the 2023-2024 season, wide receiver Rashee Rice blossomed as the year progressed. Between Week 1 and the end of the campaign, the second-round pick grew within the offense and became a top two target in the passing game.

With Rice out for the remainder of his second try, could this year’s rookie do something similar? No. 28 overall pick Xavier Worthy is having a mixed bag of a debut with Kansas City, putting up respectable stats but failing to make the overall impact many had 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 freshman is making progress and could undergo a developmental arc similar to Rice’s a year ago.

“I think that’s right, that’s a good observation,” Bleymaier said. “Regardless of what some stats say, especially last year with Rashee, he grew every week and became more and more comfortable with what we were doing and how it was best for him to achieve it.” 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 additional things. He’s becoming more and more comfortable in those routes or those maneuvers against the defenses he faces. Maybe he wasn’t so comfortable earlier in the season. It doesn’t always show up in the stats, but as the season goes on, that comfort level starts to show with him winning routes and getting passes.”

If Worthy could replicate that production, it would truly be an impressive feat. Not many saw it coming for Rice through his first seven games. In weeks 1 through 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 (15). To top it all off, he has also gotten more snaps (296) than Rice (198) when comparing starts.

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

“I wish we could go on the clicker and I’d show you all of them,” Bleymaier said. “We were going to be here all day. There are places where it’s really smart to set up a guy and use his speed not only to run past someone and score a deep touchdown, but also to stop and change direction. And then to maneuver how defenses play him where previously he might have run into some traffic or gotten stuck in a traffic jam in some way. He maneuvers, he recognizes things like that, he gets clean releases.

Last month, head coach Andy Reid praised Worthy for being a “fast learner.“From an effort or positive standpoint, there’s no denying what he can do. A direct comparison to a rookie Rice seems flawed, especially given the differences in both players’ duties within the offense. The traits – understanding coverage, improving hand combat, However, becoming more physical and learning from mistakes – can evolve in the same way.

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

“All those things are very similar to what you said,” Bleymaier said. “Especially in week (9), I think we need to continue to let him grow with routes that are outside his comfort level and that can then get him back to the things he’s really good at: giving the defense a different look. That’s about What we did with Rashee this past year was to keep giving him the things he was good at and then challenge him and push the boundaries so that the defense couldn’t just sit on one or two things.”

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