How Xavier Worthy Gives the Chiefs an Option They Haven’t Had Since Tyreek Hill

The Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receiver room has been a notorious revolving door since trading star Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in 2022.

Chiefs fans aren’t complaining. The strategy has paid off tremendously, with the Chiefs winning back-to-back Super Bowls since the trade, thanks to superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

Nonetheless, the Chiefs made moves to bolster their receiving corps in the offseason, most notably signing veteran Marquis “Hollywood” Brown in free agency and speedy rookie pass-catcher Xavier Worthy, whom Kansas City took out of Texas in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Worthy, who ran a 4.21-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February, has become the Chiefs’ most advanced deep-ball threat since Hill was in Kansas City. That presents an intriguing opportunity for Chiefs coach Andy Reid to shake up some of the old play-calling from that era, as former Chiefs quarterback Chase Daniel explained in the first episode of “The Facility,” which aired Tuesday.

Watch Daniel break down how Worthy could be used in the post route play designs that Reid, Mahomes and the Chiefs have successfully executed with Hill.

While the Chiefs are focused on testing out new weapons in their first game of the NFL season against the Ravens on Thursday, Daniel thinks Baltimore has a much bigger task ahead of it, and it might not be possible in September.

“(Lamar Jackson) has to prove to the rest of the AFC that someone can compete with the Kansas City Chiefs,” Daniel said. “Lamar is 1-4 against Patrick Mahomes, 0-1 in the playoffs. They got the No. 1 seed last year. … They had a home playoff game. They put the Chiefs exactly where they wanted them to be. And what happened? They lost that game. They have to start the season off right and get a win.

“The Detroit Lions went to KC last year and beat them. KC still won the Super Bowl. We need to tell the rest of the AFC, ‘This is how you beat Patrick Mahomes.'”

What’s at stake for Lamar Jackson and the Chiefs?

But it remains to be seen whether the Ravens can make that statement against a Chiefs offense that’s already at full strength.

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