Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins drew a team-high 9 targets in Sunday night's win over the Chargers and snagged the team's only TD. But he trailed rookie WR Xavier Worthy in routes, receptions, and receiving yards in a modest passing performance for the team.
Worthy matched TE Travis Kelce in targets (6) and receptions (5), and ranked second to Kelce with 41 receiving yards.
Worthy's 35 routes also trailed only Kelce (38) and constituted an 81.4% route share, according to Pro Football Focus.
Hopkins followed at 28 routes (65.1%), with JuJu Smith-Schuster (51.2%) third among WRs and Justin Watson (41.9%) fourth.
It marked the fourth straight game of 4+ receptions for Worthy, who finished each of those games in the 41-61 range for receiving yards.
The rookie's average target depths have varied more widely over that span -- and throughout the season -- pointing to the Chiefs' struggles in connecting on deep chances for the speedster.
I'll bet on Worthy and Patrick Mahomes improving that connection over the long term. In the meantime, Worthy's role and Kansas City's recent shift toward higher pass rates make the rookie a decent WR3.
Hopkins has now scored in two of the past three games and caught 4+ balls in three straight. But he has settled into the sub-70% range of route shares and finished three of the past four games at less than 10 yards per catch.
He's similarly a lower-end WR3 option going forward.
The Chiefs get positive matchups for WR scoring at Cleveland and back home against Houston the next two weeks.
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