Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs offense came under the spotlight for underperforming when compared to other top NFL teams. In response, the Chiefs made speedy additions to their wide receiver room, including Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown. Fans hoped Worthy’s partnership with QB Patrick Mahomes would be magical for the Chiefs, but his first few reps suggest otherwise.
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The Chiefs kicked off their three-day rookie minicamp on Saturday, May 4. Since then, videos featuring the rookies from the team’s facility have been doing rounds online. One video, in particular, posted by NFL insider Dov Kleiman, has gone viral, which shows WR Xavier Worthy practicing with the Chiefs on the first day of camp.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy will be a stud.pic.twitter.com/l6pomUzput
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 5, 2024
In the clip, Worthy is practicing his running route before he turns back to catch the ball. However, the ball only touches his fingertips, resulting in a missed catch. While Dov Kleiman captioned the video “Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy will be a stud,” NFL fans had a different reaction, nicknaming Worthy as “Kadarius Toney 2.0.”
A fan stated,
Lookin like kadarius toney 2.0
— Foess (@FantasyFoess) May 5, 2024
Another one wrote,
Kadarius Toney change his number?? pic.twitter.com/QA7GZuS5dg
— MikeTX (@miketx95) May 5, 2024
A social media user commented,
He is just like the other chiefs wideouts
— Jer (@JJerbea) May 5, 2024
A different one expressed,
Toney 2.0
— Enwerd Sayer (@probinclux) May 5, 2024
Someone else said,
Already starting out like most said it would be like. Was not worth the pick. Speed does not translate to great Receiver
— Giaman21 (@giaman33) May 5, 2024
Fans are drawing comparisons between Worthy and Kadarius Toney, who had a rough 2023 season. Toney dropped crucial catches that cost the Chiefs a game, notably in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.
BRIAN BRANCH PICK-SIX IN HIS FIRST NFL GAME
: #Kickoff2023 on NBC
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/EBLJ3Rwf5g pic.twitter.com/RzuewZE45n— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2023
During that game, Patrick Mahomes threw a perfect pass to Toney, but it slipped through his hands and was intercepted by Lions defensive back Brian Branch, who returned it for a touchdown. The Chiefs ultimately lost 21-20 and had Toney not made that mistake, their position would have been much different.
Naturally, the Wide Receiver’s performance in that match, along with several other mistakes throughout the season, made fans question his signing. However, in the latest development, the Chiefs have declined the fifth-year option on Kadarius Toney, leaving him with just one year remaining on his rookie contract with the team.
Meanwhile, the missed catch video ruined Xavier Worth’s reputation before he could even get started, and although the Chiefs’ social media team tried their best to fix it, fans were of a different opinion.
Chiefs’ Efforts to Revamp Xavier Worthy’s Image
After Xavier Worthy’s video faced criticism, the official Kansas City Chiefs X account posted another video to improve the WR’s image. In the video, Worthy is seen running at lightning speed while making a catch before sprinting towards the end zone. The Chiefs, boasting his speed, captioned the video as “Speedy Speedy Speedy.”
Speedy speedy speedy pic.twitter.com/zcMYHeZkEM
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 4, 2024
However, as the saying goes, the first impression is the last, and that’s precisely what occurred. Despite the Chiefs’ efforts to appreciate Worthy’s speed, fans remained fixated on his previous dropped pass, leading to doubts about whether the fastest NFL player would prove to be a bust in the upcoming season.
Xavier Worthy made the headlines after he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.21 seconds at the NFL Combine, breaking the previous record of former wide receiver John Ross. He soon came under the radar of top NFL teams and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs as the 28th overall in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.