Todd McShay forecasts Kansas City Chiefs selecting Xavier Worthy to end first-round

Former ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay joined ‘The Ryen Russillo Podcast’ following the NFL Scouting Combine. An event that definitely changes the perspective of evaluators and the big boards of scouting departments ahead of the NFL Draft.

The draft doesn’t kick off until April 25, but Russillo asked McShay to predict a team picking a player based on intel. A pick that various people in NFL circles believe will happen ahead of the upcoming draft and that all signs are pointing toward.

“The one that makes the most sense to me and kind of fits what they would try to do, Kansas City has spent so much on their defense and getting that right in the last couple of drafts and we’ve seen the results,” McShay said. “Now you’ve got [Marquez] Valdes-Scantling, he’s gone, no longer with the team. Kadarius Toney, nightmare, so we need a burner. And then Rashee Rice, we hit on that pick right? But he’s a YAC guy, yards after catch, let’s get him the ball in the quick game. So they need somebody to get down the field, vertical.”

Given the needs and personnel of the defending Super Bowl champions, McShay tabbed the Chiefs as a likely team to select Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the final pick in the first-round of the NFL Draft. A potential nightmare for defenses after Worthy broke the NFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash with a 4.21-second finish.

“Xavier Worthy just goes and runs the fastest time in the history of the combine, 4.21. I would have said before he ran that, even if he ran a 4.35, it didn’t matter to me,” McShay said. “The dude’s a burner.”

Worthy posted 197 catches for 2,755 yards and 26 touchdowns during his three seasons for the Longhorns, also contributing in the return game with 23 punt returns for 371 yards and a score in 2023. With McShay believing he could be a perfect fit in Kansas City’s offense playing a similar role that Tyreek Hill did in the past as a reliable deep threat.

“Alright you’ve got this guy who’s quick underneath, you got [Travis] Kelce coming back who’s your tight end, you need someone who’s gonna stretch the field and can actually catch the ball when he gets open vertically. I’ve got the number here somewhere, but when I look at Worthy he’s somewhere in the top half in terms of the best. I think he was like 6.4% drop rate which is better than average, let’s put it that way,” McShay explained.

There’s no doubt that superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes would benefit from and utilize Worthy arguably better than any other passer in the league. But the real question is does Worthy fall that far in the draft to the No. 32 overall pick following the buzz he generated with his record-breaking combine performance?

“So a huge upgrade over what MVS provided the last couple of years when open deep. So to me that one just makes the most sense and I’ve heard a couple other people talk about and I’m like yeah, I agree with that. So we’ll see,” McShay concluded.