KC · WR
Xavier Worthy Fantasy Outlook 2026: A Second Year That Never Started
Worthy opened 2025 with an injury that cost him his first three games and never recovered the efficiency that produced nine touchdowns as a rookie.
What the hamstring and concussion stole from year one
Xavier Worthy missed the first three games of 2025 with a soft-tissue injury suffered in training camp. When he returned in Week 4, he posted 17.1 PPR points in his first game back. That was his ceiling week for the season.
The rest of it was 42 receptions on a 13% target share, 532 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown across 14 games. The sportsbooks had posted him at 64.9 catches, 900.5 yards, and 6.5 receiving touchdowns before the injury. He missed all three lines by margins wide enough to finish WR59 and 119th overall.
As a rookie in 2024, Worthy caught 59 passes for 12.7 yards per reception and nine total touchdowns. The efficiency was real and the role was growing. The injury did not just cost him three games — it erased the momentum that was supposed to carry into a second-year breakout.
The injury did not just cost him three games — it erased the momentum that was supposed to carry into a second-year breakout.
The parts of the profile that survived
At 23, the speed is still the defining trait. Worthy is a vertical threat whose value comes from stretching defenses and winning on deep shots, which is why his yards-per-reception held at 12.7 as a rookie even on limited volume.
The complication is that Kansas City does not run an offense that supports two high-volume receivers. Travis Kelce commanded the first look for a decade, and Rashee Rice emerged as the primary target when Kelce's role compressed. Worthy's 13% target share in 2025 was not an injury-depressed number — it was the structural ceiling for a third option in an offense that does not throw enough to feed three mouths.