2024-09-06 16:35:02
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Xavier Worthy has arrived.
The rookie Kansas City Chiefs wideout posted two touchdowns in his NFL regular-season debut on Thursday night against the Baltimore Ravens, scoring a rushing touchdown in the first quarter and a long receiving score in early in the fourth.
In total, he had two touchdowns on just three touches, posting 68 yards from scrimmage.
The fact that he was even on the Chiefs seems awfully surprising in retrospect, given that Kansas City has ended the Buffalo Bills season in three of the past four years during the playoffs. That made Buffalo’s decision to trade the Chiefs the No. 28 overall pick in the first round, alongside a fourth-rounder, for the No. 32 overall pick and a third-round selection a bit of a head-scratcher.
The Chiefs, of course, used the pick to take Worthy, and it didn’t take fans long to turn his early success into an opportunity to roast the Bills:
Marcel Louis-Jacques @Marcel_LJ
the rest of the NFL staring at the Bills after Xavier Worthy scored on his first career touch pic.twitter.com/Az0iKPE8x8
Worthy might be a bit feast-or-famine for fantasy players, however. Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown (once he returns from injury) are far more likely to earn consistent targets. Worthy’s ability to turn the targets he does receive into big plays, however, are going to keep him in the flex conversation all season long.
Speaking of Rice, he was Mahomes’ top target on the evening (seven catches for 103 yards) and sure looked like a potential WR2 in PPR leagues going forward. Assuming he remains eligible to play the entire season, he could be primed for a breakout year.
The other major fantasy star on the night was Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely, who may have just surpassed Mark Andrews as the top receiving option at tight end for the Ravens. Likely had seven receptions for 111 yards and a score (and was inches away from scoring the game-tying reception on the final play of the game), compared to just two catches for 14 yards for Andrews.
The risk for starting either player on a given week is the possibility that the other will be Lamar Jackson’s primary option in that matchup. Andrews has long been one of Jackson’s most trusted targets—he’s going to have a significant role in this offense. But Likely is a playmaker and he’s going to siphon targets.
It’s very possible that the push-and-pull between the two could limit each to low-end TE1 status, if not an outright TE2 designation. At the very least, however, Likely has to be a consideration for your lineup every week—he was awesome on Thursday.
