INDIANAPOLIS — Texas receiver Xavier Worthy blazed his name all over the field at Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2024 scouting combine, when he ran a 4.21-second 40-yard dash, setting the all-time record. Of course, when the excitement of that wears off, everybody will ask the same question: Does that kind of speed actually show up on the field?
In Worthy’s case, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Though he caught just six passes of 20 or more air yards last season on 23 targets, he also had a lot of drops on those deep passes, which he tried to explain this week at the podium.
“I feel like I had really good hands,” he said. “I feel like it’s just kind of focus drops for me. It’s not a technique thing or a hands thing. I feel like it’s focus.”
If he can get his focus together, Worthy might be just about unstoppable at the NFL level. because that speed does indeed show up on the field, in multiple ways.
We could start with this 45-yard banger against TCU, in which Worthy gave his defender a nasty foot fake before going off to the races and winding up with a two-yard cushion against press coverage…
does xavier worthy's 4.21 speed show up on the field
yes, part 1 pic.twitter.com/0bkRU84Vz3
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 3, 2024
…or this 44-yarder against Alabama, where the deep safety had no shot in Cover-3.
does xavier worthy's 4.21 speed show up on the field
yes, part 1 pic.twitter.com/0bkRU84Vz3
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 3, 2024
How about this 54-yard catch against Oklahoma State that was 53 yards after the catch, and Worthy just caterwauling his way through the entire defense?
does xavier worthy's 4.21 speed show up on the field
yes, part 3 pic.twitter.com/DTYHk6g4l8
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 3, 2024
So yes, Worthy’s speed does show up on the field, and if he wasn’t a first-round pick before, he probably is now.
