You are at Lucas Oil Stadium, lined up getting ready for the 40 yard dash. Then, you raise up off your knee feeling sweaty and nervous and then boom 4.21 seconds later everyone in the stadium is screaming and going crazy. You are now everywhere on the internet, on social media and you have just found out you broke the 40 yard dash combine record. That was Xavier Worthy’s situation and we are going to take a look at how he got to that point in his life.
Early Life
Xavier Worthy grew up in Fresno, California. Played sports from a very young age and was always competitive in sports. In 5th grade he competed in cross country and he ended up getting 2nd in districts that year. When he came home he was upset because he knew he could win districts. He trained and ran vigorously for 1 year and ended up winning districts in cross country. He did not like cross country because of all the running but did another year just to prove to everyone he could win.
High School
In high school at Central East High School in California, he struggled his sophomore year on the field. He only had 10 catches that year and was sitting behind Jeremiah Hunter who is a receiver at California University. He did show his speed that year on the track running a 10.55 100 meter dash. His only offer before his Junior year was San Jose State.
Before Worthy’s Junior season, his coaches pushed him to compete and compete for a spot he did. Just like the cross country story he wanted to prove to everyone that he deserved to be on the field. The same result happened after he worked vigorously to achieve what he wanted. He had 55 catches with 992 yards and 16 touchdowns and his team went undefeated and won the state championship.
Recruiting Process
Word was out now, he can ball. He had offers from all over the nation. His top 6 offers were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Oregon. He ended up committing to Michigan University in July of 2020. Even though he was committed to Michigan, Alabama’s OC at the time which was Sarkisian, who would eventually become his head coach at Texas, would still pursue Worthy.
A lot of people thought Worthy was going to flip to Alabama because he went on a few visits after he committed to Michigan. But Worthy stayed loyal and ended up doing early enrollment to Michagin and was set to move there in Januaray of 2021. Two weeks before he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan said Worthy was not academically up to standard to do early enrollment and that he should enroll in June for summer classes. Worthy and his mom were pissed off about this, but Worthy kept his word and moved to Ann Arbor.
Since he was not enrolled into Michagin he could only do zoom meetings and could not participate in any activities in the football facility. After a month of figuring it out he decided to go back home and figure out what he wanted to do. Coach Saekisian just got a job at University of Texas as the head coach and since he made a relation with Worthy during the recruiting process, it made it a no brainer for Worthy, he is going to Texas. He got right to work in his backyard using cones and a speedwork ladder to get better everyday.
Freshman Season
Worthy was a day one starter! Super impressive for a true freshman, and he has not played for 2 years because of the pandemic. He had special talents and the competitive drive to always be on the field that got him to start right away. He started off slow in his first 3 games he had a total of 9 receptions, 146 yards, and 1 touchdown. His first Big 12 game was when he started to get his footing. He had 5 catches for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns.
His best game at wideout in his college career was the Red River Rivarly in 2021. Texas vs Oklahoma, a heated rivalry and this game was one of the best ever. Even though Worthy’s performance was overshadowed by another true freshman that you might know named Caleb Williams, Worthy’s performance was noted by his teammates, scouts, and fans who chanted “X, X, X!!”. He had 9 catches with 261 yards and 2 touchdowns.
His 2 touchdowns in that game were big plays. He took a screen play for 75 yards for his first touchdown. The second touchdown was a game tying touchdown late in the 4th quarter. The rest of the year he had 2 more notable games. One game against Baylor he had 4 catches for 115 yards and 1 touchdown. The other game was against Kanas and he had his career high of 14 catches for 152 yards and another game with 3 touchdowns that year.
Explosive first year for Worthy, having the games he had showed his talents and explosiveness to the nation. He finished that year with 62 receptions with 982 yards and 12 touchdowns. That year would prove to be hard to follow up as we see his struggles during his sophomore year.
Sophomore Season
Xavier’s sophomore season was an interesting one. He seemed to struggle while the Texas offense was a lot better this year. Something was obviously wrong with Xavier Worthy, but what was it? It was revealed in the spring by Coach Sarkisian that Xavier Worthy played all year with a broken hand. That is understandable why he could not produce to the level that he did his freshman year.
When Xaiver was asked about how he caught the ball he said, “You let it hit your hands and you’ve got to try to hold onto it. I used to get taped before every game. Extra tape. A lot of tape.” The difficulty level of making any catches away from his body is out of this world with a broken hand.
His stats that year were 60 catches with 760 yards and 9 touchdowns. He had one noteworthy game against West Virginia where he had 7 catches for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns, and had 1 passing touchdown. Not much of a reduction but still a reduction when the Texas’ offense in 2022 had 600 more total passing yards than they did in 2021. Xavier should have seen more production in 2022. Despite his lower production, scouts remained interested in seeing what he would do in his Junior year and assessing his readiness for the NFL draft.
Junior Season
After a disappointing sophomore year he was able to turn it around and have a great Junior year. There were rumors of Worthy transferring because of his frustrations but he came out and said he was not going anywhere. He struggled last year connecting on the deep ball with Ewers so he spent time with Ewers and worked like he normally does to get better.
The hard work paid off he had 2 games over a 100 yards against Oklahoma, and Texas Christian. He balled all year and proved throughout himself the year. Also, he played well in the return game. He averaged over 16 yards a return which is outstanding and could flip fields for teams.
Worthy wrapped up his Junior year with 1014 yards, 75 receptions, and 5 touchdowns. He also had 371 punt return yards on 22 returns and 1 touchdown. This was a big proving year for Worthy and he proved that he can be a wideout that can produce in the NFL. He also proved that he could return punts. After that season he would declare for the draft.
Combine and Draft Process
Now we are back to the present. Worthy broke the 40 yard combine record in an exciting fashion. In the draft he is projected to go to the Chiefs, the last pick of the 1st round. With a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes and the creative mind of Andy Reid, Worthy would be a perfect fit with the Chiefs, who will put him in great situations to succeed. It was exciting to watch Worthy in college and it will be thrilling to watch him in the NFL.
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References:
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/xavier-worthy-1/gamelog/2023/
https://theathletic.com/4843763/2023/09/08/xavier-worthy-texas-football-michigan-alabama/
https://texassports.com/sports/football/stats/2021
https://www.hudl.com/profile/9800695/Xavier-Worthy
https://www.kltv.com/2024/03/03/university-texas-wide-receiver-sets-nfl-combine-40-yard-dash-record/
https://texassports.com/sports/football/roster/xavier-worthy/12556