NFL Draft: WR Xavier Worthy, who set a record for 40 time at the combine, goes to Chiefs
The team that made Tyreek Hill famous moved up to take the player in this draft whose speed has been compared most often to Hill.
The Kansas City Chiefs made an interesting move up the NFL Draft on Thursday. They traded with the Buffalo Bills, going from No. 32 to No. 28 in the first round, and took Texas receiver Xavier Worthy. Worthy had the fastest recorded 40-yard dash in NFL scouting combine history at 4.21 seconds.
Worthy is more than just the guy who set the record for the fastest 40 time, and he'll let you know that he's an accomplished receiver, but he really turned heads with his speed.
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They Chiefs are getting a player who can tip the field with his speed, and they already know how to use a player like that.
Xavier Worthy has enticing speed
There's a reason Hill was the first receiver to get a contract worth $30 million per season, and it's because he can change a game with his breakaway speed.
In a perfect world, Worthy will be that type of player as well.
Worthy ran the 40-yard dash in 4.21 seconds, the fastest time in the database that dates back to 2003. Speed is always valuable in the NFL, and Worthy's unique speed is appealing. Worthy also plays fast, and can turn a short play into a big highlight.
There is some danger in assuming elite speed will make an elite player, however.
Worthy hopes to have a big impact
Before Worthy, John Ross held the official record for fastest 40 at the combine. Ross ran it in 4.22 seconds and became the ninth pick of the 2017 draft to the Cincinnati Bengals. Ross had 957 yards over five seasons in the NFL.
Worthy hopes to have a much bigger impact in the NFL. He was a productive receiver at Texas with 1,014 yards last season.
He wants to be known for more than just his 40 time.
“I feel like before the combine, if I would have run something like a 4.3, they would have been like, ‘Oh, he’s a route runner’ — but now that I run a 4.2, it’s like, ‘He’s just fast,’” Worthy told Yahoo Sports' Jori Epstein. “My film’s there. I ran every route in the route tree. I got open on every route, was successful at every route.
“The film doesn’t lie.”
That might be true but for at least the early part of Worthy's career, he'll be the player who ran the fastest 40 in the history of the NFL scouting combine.
He hopes his NFL production eventually overtakes that narrative. Having Patrick Mahomes throwing him the ball certainly should help with that.
