
Professional fantasy sports athlete. Still grinding daily fantasy cash games. Opinions are entirely someone else's. #ChiefsKingdom #FountainsUp #RockChalk
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Joined March 2024
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We're going to find out some really horrible stuff about how Howie, Sirianni and the Eagles operate aren't we?
Does Xavier Worthy play better when Rashee Rice is out? This was a common talking point I saw yesterday.
Regular season, 2024–2026 through Week 6, using PFF data:
With Rice (14 games):
• 5.1 targets/game
• 3.1 catches/game
• 35.0 receiving yards/game
• Targeted on 15.6% of routes
• 1.07 yards per route run
Without Rice for the entire game (16 games):
• 6.7 targets/game
• 4.4 catches/game
• 43.9 receiving yards/game
• Targeted on 20.0% of routes
• 1.31 yards per route run
• Worthy routes with Rice: 32.6 per game
• Worthy routes without Rice: 33.4 per game
His targets increase by 32%, while his receiving yards increase by 25%.
The same pattern showed up in 2025:
• With Rice: 5.6 targets/game, targeted on 16.1% of routes
• Without Rice: 7.0 targets/game, targeted on 21.9% of routes
Rice’s two early exits are separate from those full-game splits. Worthy’s production after Rice left:
• 2024 at LAC: 3 catches, 73 yards, 1 TD
• 2026 at LV: 4 catches, 70 yards
Those games included catches of 54 and 41 yards, respectively. Yesterday, with Rice out, Worthy caught all 7 targets for 73 yards.
Worthy’s highest receiving total in the 14 games they’ve both played is 61 yards. Rice’s is 141. They’ve both reached 50 yards three times and 60 yards once. They have never reached 70+ yards in a game together.
There’s playoff evidence too. With Rice absent during the 2024 postseason, Worthy totaled 19 catches for 287 yards and 3 TDs across three games.
The clearest takeaway is opportunity. Worthy gets targeted more often when Rice is out and his raw production has been higher in those games.
The Chiefs need to find ways for Worthy to stay involved consistently when Rice returns. Worthy may not necessarily play “better” without Rice, but he clearly gets more chances to produce.
Sample only includes games Mahomes started, excluding Worthy’s 2025 opener and his 2024 Week 18 rest cameo.
Have Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice produced together? Meh.
In 14 regular season games together:
• Worthy’s high: 61 receiving yards
• Both reached 50 yards: 3 times
• Both reached 60: once
• Both reached 70: never
More on Worthy’s production with and without Rice later.
Xavier Worthy followed the Raiders game with another step forward against the Chargers. Production was spread across 7 receptions instead of leaning heavily on one explosive play.
Week 6 vs. Chargers:
• 7 catches on 7 targets for 73 yards
• 10.4 yards/catch
• 2.52 yards/route on 29 routes
• 4.7 aDOT
• 40 yards after catch, per PFF
• 4 receiving first downs
• No drops
• Longest reception: 19 yards
Against Vegas his 41 yarder accounted for nearly 59% of his receiving yards. Against LA his longest catch accounted for 26%. His other six receptions produced 54 yards.
Updated season numbers using the same 10+ target minimum. Now 107 WRs qualify, pending MNF:
• T-55th in receiving yards (206)
• 90th in yards/catch (9.8)
• 66th in yards/route (1.32)
• 1-for-4 contested
• 57th in passer rating when targeted (89.2)
• T-44th in routes run (156)
• T-86th in aDOT (8.5)
The season-long efficiency still has ground to make up, but it improved again:
• Yards/route: 1.05 → 1.32
• Yards/target: 6.0 → 7.1
• Catch rate: 63.6% → 72.4%
• Passer rating when targeted: 76.5 → 89.2
Over the last two, Worthy has caught 11 of 14 targets for 143 yards on 57 routes. That's 2.51 yards/route after averaging just 0.64 through his first three.
The difference in usage is worth watching. He produced against the Raiders with a 15.7 aDOT, then followed it with another efficient game at 4.7. His speed can create value beyond deep targets, especially when the Chiefs let him run a real route tree.
Xavier Worthy took an encouraging step forward against the Raiders. The season long numbers still have considerable ground to make up but Sunday showed some of what the Chiefs need from him.
Week 4 @ Raiders:
• 4 catches on 7 targets for 70 yards
• 17.5 yards/catch
• 2.50 yards/route on 28 routes
• 15.7 aDOT
• 1 catch on 2 contested targets
• Season long 41 yard reception
He gained more receiving yards Sunday than in his first three games combined.
Updated season numbers using the same 10+ target minimum as the prior two weeks. Now 95 WRs qualify, pending MNF:
• T-61st in receiving yards (133)
• 83rd in yards/catch (9.5)
• 78th in yards/route (1.05)
• 1-for-4 contested
• 66th in passer rating when targeted (76.5)
• 22nd in routes run (127)
• 74th out of 95 in aDOT (9.7)
The season-long efficiency is still poor but Sunday materially improved it:
• Yards/catch: 6.3 → 9.5
• Yards/route: 0.64 → 1.05
• Yards/target: 4.2 → 6.0
• Longest reception: 17 → 41 yards
There are caveats.
The 41 yard catch accounted for 58.6% of his Week 4 yardage. His other three receptions produced 29 yards. That explosive play counts but we still need more consistent production throughout the game.
Rice left early, Thornton was lost late. Whether the Chiefs add outside help or expand the roles of Royals and Allen after the bye, they need Worthy to make Sunday’s improvement something they can count on.
Spags should just bracket Gadsden and assume if they're forced to throw Johnston's way it'll be dropped
Sure is a different story than what he was selling a little over a week ago.





