National Football League

How Xavier Worthy gives Chiefs options they haven't had since Tyreek Hill

Published Sep. 3, 2024 7:56 p.m. ET

The Kansas City Chiefs' wide receiver room has famously been a revolving door since their landmark 2022 trade of star Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins.

Not that Chiefs fans are complaining. The strategy has paid off massively, as the Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls since the trade, thanks to superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

Still, the Chiefs set out to bolster their receiving corps this offseason, most notably through the additions of veteran Marquise "Hollywood" Brown in free agency and speedy rookie pass-catcher Xavier Worthy, whom Kansas City took with its first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Texas.

Worthy, who ran a record 4.21-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February, instantly becomes the Chiefs' best deep-ball threat since Hill was in Kansas City. That presents an exciting opportunity for Chiefs head coach Andy Reid to dust off some of his old playcalls from that era, as former Chiefs quarterback Chase Daniel explained on the debut episode of "The Facility" on Tuesday.

Watch Daniel break down how Reid, Mahomes and the Chiefs can use Worthy in a post route play design that they successfully ran with Hill:

While the Chiefs may be focused on trying out some of their new weapons in Thursday's NFL season opener against the Ravens, Daniel believes Baltimore has a much bigger task at hand, one that may be impossible in September.

"[Lamar Jackson] has gotta prove to the rest of the AFC that somebody can contend with the Kansas City Chiefs," Daniel said. "Lamar is 1-4 versus Patrick Mahomes, 0-1 in the playoffs. You got the No. 1 seed last year. … You got a home playoff game. You got the Chiefs exactly where you want them. And what happened? They lost that game. You gotta get the season started off right and get a victory.

"The Detroit Lions went in last year to K.C. and won — K.C. still won the Super Bowl. You've got to put the rest of the AFC on notice — ‘This is how you beat Patrick Mahomes.'"