There’s a stat about Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy that I can’t get out of my head. It’s not the kind of stat that makes you feel good–quite the opposite, in fact–and it’s one that highlights the problems the Chiefs have had in getting the most out of a speed threat that was supposed to leave defenses shaking in their cleats.
Xavier Worthy has the same number of career 100-yard receiving games as Emmett Johnson: one.
Yep, Worthy is a former first-round pick the Chiefs traded up to get, the fastest player in NFL Combine history, and now in his third season. Yet he has as many career 100-yard receiving games as a fifth-round rookie running back with just seven NFL games under his belt.
Yikes. Big yikes.
For me, it’s the clearest sign yet of something we already knew but something that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: the Chiefs aren’t getting nearly enough production from Xavier Worthy.
Emmett Johnson's breakout puts Worthy's struggles in perspective
Johnson was Kansas City’s leading receiver against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, putting up 128 yards and a touchdown on five catches, including a monster 73-yard catch-and-run to the house that was the Chiefs’ longest touchdown reception in more than five years. Worthy, meanwhile, had three catches for 13 yards.
Looking at Sunday’s box score, it’s almost like Worthy and Johnson’s numbers were accidentally mixed up. Worthy is supposed to be the one putting up big numbers and explosive passing plays like that, not Johnson, a running back who had as many touchdown catches, one, as he did rushing attempts.
Johnson’s big day means he is now third in receiving yards for the Chiefs this season, ahead of Worthy, 237 yards to 230, and the pair have the same number of touchdown catches this season with one apiece.
It isn’t supposed to be like this.
Worthy has yet to become the deep threat K.C. envisioned
Worthy was drafted to be Tyreek Hill lite, a speed threat who could take the top off a defense in the blink of an eye. But that dream has never become reality.
Worthy’s sole triple-digit game came as a rookie in Super Bowl LIX when he had 157 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He caught two 50-yard bombs that day, something that was meant to usher in a new deep-ball era, but we haven’t seen it since.
This season has been particularly frustrating. Three weeks ago, my biggest takeaway from the win over the Los Angeles Chargers was that Worthy finally looked like he was ready to step up to something like a WR1. But after seven catches and 73 yards against LA, he totaled just 24 yards from six receptions on 12 targets against Seattle and Denver and looked like anything but.
Several head-scratching moments from Worthy have stood out, too. On two critical plays—the interception in Seattle and the second-and-goal pass with 10 seconds to go against Denver—Worthy was standing out of bounds in a spot that was no good to anyone.
On another pass against the Broncos late in the first half, Worthy ran a route upfield along the sideline, only for Patrick Mahomes to throw the ball way behind him as if he was expecting Worthy to run a comeback. It’s not the first time QB and WR haven’t been on the same page.
But still, it hasn’t all been bad. Worthy has been getting open at times, including against Denver, but Mahomes and the Chiefs just haven’t been able to find him.
The Chiefs' first Play-Action pass of the script. There's plenty of space to exploit, and I love the split-zone-to-insert route they run with Gray. Xavier runs an excellent route on the bottom of the screen, but Kelce is open for 15 yards pic.twitter.com/nXKTKfMeCb
— Daniel Harms (@InHarmsWay19) November 2, 2026
Xavier Worthy was kinda cookin' a couple times in this game. pic.twitter.com/K9UH5flNyF
— Daniel Harms (@InHarmsWay19) November 2, 2026
It’s hard to put a finger on why things haven’t been working. Deep shots have been there, but not often enough.
The Chiefs are running out of excuses for Worthy's production
Maybe Mahomes isn’t targeting Worthy downfield enough, or maybe Worthy just isn’t winning on routes enough for Mahomes to trust he’ll be open if he looks his way. Maybe it’s the scheme, or maybe it’s just the lack of connection we see on broken routes.
Chiefs fans have been waiting—praying—for Worthy to live up to his draft slot and be something that resembles a dangerous receiver, but it’s clear that it just isn’t happening.
When your rookie fifth-round running back has more receiving yards this season and as many career 100-yard receiving games as your first-round wide receiver does, that’s a big problem.
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