The Chiefs got a version of Xavier Worthy last Sunday that they can live with - and maybe one they’ve been waiting to see all season.
In the win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Worthy was Kansas City’s most productive receiver by a mile. With Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton both sidelined by injuries, he delivered a season-best seven catches on seven targets for 73 yards, and he did it while looking like the type of wideout the Chiefs expected when they made him a first-round pick.
That was the bigger story than the raw numbers. Worthy didn’t just catch passes; he looked sharp, explosive and comfortably involved from the start.
Early in the game, Patrick Mahomes hit him over the middle and Worthy turned a 10-yard throw into a 33-yard gain before a penalty wiped it away. On the next snap, he made a diving grab on a Mahomes fastball at full extension.
Later in the first quarter, he snared a smooth one-handed catch and turned it into a 17-yard gain. Then, late in the third, he added another diving catch for good measure.
It was the kind of outing Chiefs fans have been hoping to get on a regular basis from a player who entered this season with something to prove. Worthy impressed as a rookie in 2024, but his second season last year was thrown off by a shoulder injury in Week 1 that altered how Kansas City used him and derailed his year.
So there were real questions coming into this season about whether Worthy could live up to that first-round billing. Against the Chargers, he offered a convincing answer.
The seven catches matched the second-most of his career, and it was the most receptions he has had in a game while also catching every target sent his way. He also looked like the fast receiver the Chiefs thought they were getting in the first place. Kansas City worked him into space well, and that showed up on the final play of the first half, when a short completion became a 19-yard gain and helped get the Chiefs into field goal range.
For Mahomes, Worthy was a dependable option. For Kansas City, he carried a wide receiver room that, outside of him and Justin Watson - who did not draw a target against the Chargers - has played just 11 games combined.
The night wasn’t flawless. On the second play of the game, Worthy’s diving catch could have turned into a touchdown if the ball had been caught on the run instead of with him settling into space. Even so, that was a small blemish on a performance that gave the Chiefs exactly what they needed.
Now the real test is whether Worthy can make this feel normal, not memorable. Kansas City will need that again Sunday night against the Seahawks.
Seven catches for 70 yards and no touchdown won’t always jump off the page, but it can be the kind of performance that supports a strong run game and opens things up for a legendary tight end.
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Garrett Wilson has already built a strong rsum since going 10th overall in 2022, posting multiple 1,000-yard seasons even while dealing with a shaky quarterback situation in New York. He is also under a long-term deal with the Jets, which makes any potential path complicated, but that is exactly why this link has become so interesting for Chiefs watchers: the fit is easy to imagine, even if the logistics are anything but. [Read more 🡒]