Chiefs draft fastest player at NFL Combine, add another weapon
Apr 26, 2024, 12:26 PM
While the Kansas City Chiefs have now won back-to-back Super Bowl they’ve done it with a subpar group of wide receivers seemingly that has changed this winter, highlighted by what Andy Reed and company did during the 2024 NFL Draft.
The next time the Denver Broncos matchup against the Chiefs, Vance Joseph’s defense will have its hands even more full. Of course, it’s all about Patrick Mahomes but the way things broke on Thursday night the NFL gifted a great quarterback, a brand new fast weapon. The Buffalo Bills, who have met KC in the playoffs a bunch and needed a pass catcher traded the No. 28 pick to the Chiefs. That’s where Kansas City selected Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound target set the NFL Scouting Combine record when he ran a 4.21 in the 40-yard dash. Worthy will suit up alongside veteran wideout Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who ran a 4.27 40 back in 2019. This will give Mahomes plenty of options even with an aging Travis Kelce and troubled Rashee Rice.
KC went from essentially nothing around Mahomes at times over the past two years since trading Tyreek Hill to a legit fearful group. Hill ran a 4.24 40 when he was at the combine and is a similar size but with more weight. Worthy was a lot more prolific while on campus than Hill was. At Texas this past season he caught 75 passes for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns, finishing his three-year college career with 26 scores in 39 games.
This matters a lot for the Broncos, who seek to end the NFL’s second-longest playoff drought and their path goes through Kansas City. The Chiefs have won the AFC West eight straight seasons, all coming in the shadow of the sleeping Broncos.
Broncos defensive coordinator Joseph will have to choose who he wants to deploy Pro Bowl cornerback Pat Surtain II on next season, leaving Mahomes with an advantage somewhere.