KC Chiefs Believe WR Xavier Worthy Can Make Rookie Leap ‘similar’ to Rushey Rice

One of the biggest stories of the 2023-24 Kansas City Chiefs season has been the rise of wide receiver Rushie Rice throughout the year. Between Week 1 and the end of the campaign, the second-round pick grew on offense and became two of the top targets in the passing game.

Given Rice’s absence as a sophomore, could this year’s rookie do something similar? No. 28 overall pick Xavier Worthy is having a mixed debut with Kansas City, posting decent stats but failing to make the overall impact many hoped for when he was drafted back in April.

Given the expectations for Worthy, how does the team feel about his prospects going forward? Pass game coordinator Joe Bleimeier believes the freshman has made progress and could follow a similar development path to what happened to Rice a year ago.

“I think that’s true, that’s a good observation,” Bleimeier said. “Regardless of what some of the statistics say, especially last year with Rashi, every week he grew and became more and more confident in both what we were doing and how it was best for him do. … And very much like Xavier, he comes in and you want to focus on what he’s good at and then give him extra things. He’s becoming more and more comfortable with the routes or plays against defenses that he uses. He may not have been as comfortable at the beginning of the season, it doesn’t always show up in the stats, but as the season goes on, that comfort level starts to show as he wins routes and catches passes.”

If Worthy could replicate this production, it would be a truly impressive achievement. Not many expected Rice to find success in his first seven games. From Weeks 1-7 last year, he had 34 targets and 26 receptions for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Entering the Chiefs’ eighth game, Worthy had 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 took more snaps (296) than Rice (198) when comparing starts.

The rest was history for Rice, who finished with over 900 yards and seven touchdowns. Worthy, on the other hand, gets more opportunities but can’t capitalize on his ability when facing a defender or when quarterback Patrick Mahomes throws him a bone. Mahomes doesn’t have the same chemistry with Worthy yet. Bleimeier still believes that even if the numbers don’t show it, Worthy is winning in new ways.

“I wish we could turn on the clicker and I could show you all of them,” Bleimeier said. “We would be here all day. There are places where it’s really savvy where he sets up a guy and uses his speed to not only run past someone and score a deep touchdown, but also to stop and change direction. maneuver the defense playing him underneath where previously he could get caught in traffic or get caught in a one-way jam. He maneuvers, he recognizes it, he gets clean releases.”

Just last month, head coach Andy Reid praised Worthy for being a “quick learner.” In terms of effort or benefits, there is no denying what it can do. Direct comparisons to rookie Rice seem unfair, especially given the differences in both players’ offensive responsibilities. However, character traits – understanding cover, improving hand-to-hand combat, physical fitness and learning from mistakes – can develop in a similar way.

That’s what the Chiefs appear to be counting on heading into Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“This is all very similar to what you said,” Bleimeier said. “Especially in Week (9), I think we need to start to continue to develop him using routes outside of his comfort level and then that can get him back to what he’s really good at, which is a new look at defense. That’s pretty much what we did with Rashi all last year: continue to give him what he was good at, and then challenge him and push his boundaries so that defenses couldn’t just sit on one or two things. This happens to Xavier. “

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