The Kansas City Chiefs, after winning the Super Bowl on a game-winning touchdown to Mecole Hardman, of all people, went out and got themselves some additional wide receivers. They signed Hollywood Brown in free agency and tapped Xavier Worthy in the first round of the draft. Good thing, too, as Rashee Rice is doing the Hard 75 with crimes. What will Xavier Worthy & Jared Wiley do in their rookie year? Let’s dive in!
FULL KANSAS CITY CHIEFS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 28 | Xavier Worthy | WR | Texas |
| 2 | 63 | Kingsley Suamataia | OT | BYU |
| 4 | 131 | Jared Wiley | TE | TCU |
| 4 | 133 | Jaden Hicks | S | Washington St |
| 5 | 159 | Hunter Nourzad | CB | Penn St |
| 6 | 211 | Kamal Hadden | CB | Tennessee |
| 7 | 248 | C.J. Hanson | OG | Holy Cross |
Round 1, Pick 28 Overall: Xavier Worthy, Wide Receiver, Texas (5’11” 165 lbs)
[Note: The following is an excerpt from our Round One Instant Reaction piece.]
Talent:
Let’s get one thing out of the way, first: Xavier Worthy holds the Combine record for the fastest 40-yard dash. The last player to hold that honor was John Ross, who the Bengals took in the first round, and who had negative fantasy points his rookie year (look it up). Speed is a useful component to success but speed itself is not a guarantee of success at the NFL level. With that out of the way, let’s look a bit further into Xavier Worthy.
Xavier Worthy is good at using his speed to make life hell on opposing defenders, not just by cracking off nine routes, but also using his speed to create the requisite space for comebacks and curls. He also does a really good job of beating man coverage by creating leverage between the quarterback and worthy. Worthy is also good for an end around or two, and he’s a beast with the ball in his hands. That having been said… his quarterbacks at Texas sucked out loud. They were so bad. So, Worthy didn’t get a ton of good and varied looks. He did, however, learn to have a terrible quarterback without screaming in his face. That’s a plus, I guess. Worthy is a fast NFL wide receiver, not a fast player playing wide receiver, like so many players in the league.
NFL Comparison: Darnell Mooney (the Nick Foles Year) or Marquise Goodwin
2024 Opportunity:
It’s hard to say how much opportunity Xavier Worthy will get, mostly because so much of that is going to be predicated on whether or not Rashee Rice is playing football in the 2024 season after he tried (and failed) to go Henry Ruggs on someone in April. That having been said, it’s incredibly clear that they plan to get as fast as humanly possible, after snagging Marquise Brown and then Marquise Brown But Better in Xavier Worthy.
If Rice is playing in 2024, then I am not entirely sure where the offense fits enough targets for Worthy to have a major target impact in 2024. The second receiver with the Chiefs has been a weapon we’ve desperately chased for almost a decade now, to no avail. It’s been a tough go of things for receivers behind Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill/The WR1 du jour for the Chiefs.
Then, there’s the world where Rice doesn’t play. This trade is a sign that the Chiefs are likely not very bullish on his chances of making it onto the field for more than half of the 2024 season since you wouldn’t use this pick for a depth receiver if you thought your WR1 was playing this year. If there’s no Rice, then anything is possible for Worthy, even returning as the new Tyreek Hill for this offense.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Again, it is too soon to tell. But, that speed in this offense is a tough thing to deny. I can’t help but think that the goal for this is to dust off those old Tyreek Hill plays to get Xavier Worthy going. He’s worth a middle-round pick this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it up into the sixth round.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 4, Pick 131 Overall: Jared Wiley, Tight End, TCU (6’6” 249 lbs)
Talent:
Wiley is a giant tight end who does a great job of using that size and soft hands to maximize that catch radius. He also doesn’t play down his size, as he bodies defenders for 50/50 balls and deftly leverages his massive frame to ensure nobody but Jared Wiley is coming down with the football. Unfortunately, he has inconsistent feet and inconsistent blocking, and he struggles to find himself open on plays that he should be able to work himself into a position for the quarterback to get him the football. He isn’t much of a blocker but he has great hands and is big and physical.
He will have a role as a TE2 right away, but I don’t know if he will ever get out of that shadow. He will have some stretch where he gets 17 targets in three games with three TDs in the same span and people, starved for tight ends, will try to talk themselves into him.
2024 Opportunity:
He plays behind Travis Kelce. He is not a pick for the Chiefs to use in 2024, he’s there as a shot at their future. In the Kansas City Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes/Travis Kelce Triumvirate Era, all tight ends not named Travis Kelce have 173 targets… across 6 seasons. Noah Gray holds the record for the most targets in a game in this group… with five. It’s not a fruitful path forward to find opportunities to produce.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Unless Travis Kelce goes down with an injury, Wiley will have complete irrelevance, through no fault of his own.
