Xavier Worthy trade comes under microscope in Chiefs-Bills AFC Championship Game

It feels like everything that’s happened in this season has led us to this moment in the AFC. It had to be this way, as if fate was pulling the two together on a collision course. Once again, the Buffalo Bills will face the Kansas City Chiefs with a shot to finally slay the giant. Most of the attention is going to be on both QBs and playcallers on both sides (whichever team can defend the pass out of their base personnel the best might win this game), but I’m going to focus on one player whose role has increased since the last time these two played: Chiefs’ rookie wideout Xavier Worthy.

Yes, the Xavier Worthy that the Chiefs traded up with the Bills to get. Worthy and Bills’ rookie wideout Keon Coleman will forever be linked because of the draft-day trade between the two franchises, but both serve a distinct purpose in their respective offenses. Worthy’s usage has been interesting to me. Since Week 13 there hasn’t been a game that he hasn’t gotten under 80% of snaps (minus the Week 18 Carson Wentz masterclass) and in that same stretch he’s second on the team in targets, and first in receptions and yards. Oh and he’s caught two touchdowns during that time. What’s really got me going about Worthy’s usage is that he’s not only used as “fast man go far” in this offense—he’s being used as a weapon laterally instead of vertically. His Average Depth of Target of 5.7 yards is the same as TE Noah Gray, but his 225 Yards after Contact in that time period leads the team. Compare that to weeks 1-12, where his ADOT was 12.7, but he only had 188 Yards after the Catch. What Worthy is doing is becoming the explosive option underneath for QB Patrick Mahomes, and it’s helped his game blossom as well.

The Chiefs this year are essentially running the most modern West Coast offense in the NFL. So much peppering of the edges of the defense with crossing routes, screens and now throws, and Worthy is the lynchpin of that underneath. He’s been the target on so many of those quick flips out to the edge that Mahomes will throw if he doesn’t like the box count on a run, and Worthy can take it for an easy six yards. Against Pittsburgh, Mahomes is reading the box count, but sees the nickel defender about to fly in off the edge and knows he’ll have a two-on-two to his right. A quick flip to Worthy and he gets a first down.

Something else the Chiefs will do is scheme up Worthy designed touches in the backfield. Every offensive mind wants to give their most explosive guy a free release, and KC is doing it really well with Worthy in recent weeks. Worthy’s touchdown against Pittsburgh came on a play where he’s lined up in the backfield and the Chiefs run mesh rail. However, Worthy is the rail route and he races into the end zone because he has the leverage.

In the playoff victory over the Texans, the Chiefs got Worthy a snap in the backfield where he showed off some of his work at the catch point from out of the backfield. When receivers come out the backfield, most guys run choice routes, giving the receiver a “choice” to break his route in or out. Worthy, instead, runs a choice-and-go, where he fakes the choice route and takes it upfield. Mahomes lays it out for him and then Worthy makes a great catch through contact.

Kansas City does a really good job of protecting Worthy from being pressed at the line of scrimmage, via stacks and bunches. Because Worthy has a slight frame and doesn’t really fare well against press, the Chiefs will use different games to open some looks up for Worthy.

Not only is Worthy being used to pry open holes for himself, his speed and the speed threat is being used to open up holes in zones for others. In their first matchup against the Texans, Kansas City battered Houston with Worthy’s speed threat across the field and in these bunches and stacks to create natural picks for guys like WR Hollywood Brown. This one was especially diabolical, with three receivers in a bunch and TE Travis Kelce off the line of scrimmage to the same side. Worthy’s over route creates a natural pick and Brown is able to just walk into some open voids in the coverage.

The Chiefs traded up to Bills’ pick to select Worthy at No. 28 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and also got a fourth rounder out of the deal. The Bills traded back to No. 32, drafted Coleman, and added a third-round pick and a seventh-round pick.

Buffalo’s pass defense is going to need to be strong in their communication and rules when faced with these stacks and motions that Kansas City is going to throw at them. It’s the Chiefs’ way of gaining information and leverage on their opponents, while putting defenders’ minds in a blender. Worthy is going to be a critical part of this, and might be the difference between another Super Bowl appearance or an early trip to Cabo.