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.
Wanna draft the next big thing? Of course you do! So why wait until next year to start? Get ahead of your competition NOW with these top 100 devy rankings.
Read More »Smaller league, bigger pressure. Use this complete 8-team draft strategy to hit the right pick in every round and build a dominant roster.
Read More »We can't expect Saquon Barkley to match his historic 2024. The real question: How far will he fall, and what will that mean for the Eagles' other offensive stars?
Read More »This is an insider feature of Draft Sharks, please upgrade to be an Insider Member
Upgrade to Insider Member
All transactions are secure and encrypted, and we never store your credit card information.