The 2026 Kansas City Chiefs offense has been surprising for many different reasons, none more depressing than the production of the player many presume is the most experienced and electrifying talent on the roster.
Glance back to April 2024, when the Chiefs swooped in with a trade to land a record-breaking speedster at the back end of the first round, and the rest of the NFL shuddered. "How could we let Xavier Worthy fall to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes?"
Worthy's 2024 rookie season in Kansas City was not at all what he had prepared for. Presumed WR1 Hollywood Brown went down with a preseason injury, and then promising second-year WR2 Rashee Rice got knocked out for the year in Week 4. It was still September, and the rookie Worthy was suddenly WR1 after a training camp in which he was nothing more than WR3.
His sophomore season in 2025 was just as chaotic. After a summer of preparation, he was knocked out during the season opener and missed four games. Injuries hampered the rest of his season, and the Chiefs didn't win a game after Thanksgiving.
By now, Worthy should be an established and trusted weapon in this offense. He is a third-year wide receiver with in-game Super Bowl experience and a rare set of tools. Why, then, does it seem like he is headed in the wrong direction?
Xavier Worthy's playing time is increasing, but his production isn't
One could question whether part of the answer lies in his usage. Until Sunday, Worthy had never played over 90% of offensive snaps in a game. He played a career-high (except for overtime games) 65 snaps against the Broncos. That was a whopping 94.2% of snaps, also a career high. But we also have to look at how the Chiefs are utilizing him within the offense.
One of Worthy's biggest performances came on the biggest stage, when he broke out with eight grabs for 157 yards and two touchdowns (almost entirely in one half) against the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. The problem is that since that day, he has averaged fewer than 40 yards per game, and his production is declining.
Before this season, Worthy had played in 31 games and gained fewer than 7.0 yards per reception in just one game, against the 49ers during his rookie season. This year, Worthy has gained 6.0 or fewer yards per reception in four games already, setting a career low in each of the last two games with 4.3 yards per catch in Denver and a paltry 3.7 yards per catch in Seattle.
Chiefs are targeting Worthy closer to the line of scrimmage
Before this season, Worthy's average depth of target (ADoT) was more than 10 yards downfield in two-thirds of his career games, including a streak of eight straight games to finish the 2025 campaign. This year, his ADoT is 7.7 yards, and he has only broken double digits in two games.
The TL;DR on Worthy's stats is that he's on the field more than ever, is getting targeted closer and closer to the line of scrimmage, and isn't stretching those short targets into YAC gains.
The opportunity should be present with the remarkable uptick in production in the Kansas City rushing offense. Without production in the mid-range and downfield passing game, the Chiefs have turned Worthy into some kind of Diet Mecole Hardman at best, manufacturing targets in the flats and hoping he can turn a 2-yard catch into 10—except he's not.
Mahomes and Worthy still haven't found their chemistry
Mahomes and Worthy struggled to build stronger chemistry in 2025, as any dedicated fan will recall numerous missed opportunities on deep balls. Much of that blame is directed at Mahomes, who uncharacteristically missed several times, long and short. But we also don't know what was expected of Worthy on those plays.
Whether it is Mahomes' trust in Worthy's ability downfield or Worthy's mind-bogglingly poor in-game-speed-to-raw-speed conversion ratio, the former Texas star just has not panned out yet as Chiefs fans expected him to, despite increasing usage and expectations. There is nowhere to go but up for the third-year pro.
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