Xavier Worthy Start or Sit Advice for Week 4
The Kansas City Chiefs are taking on the Las Vegas Raiders in the only matchup between 3-0 teams this weekend. It’s also an AFC West divisional game, which gives it even more weight. The Chiefs have gotten to 3-0 with minimal contributions from WR Xavier Worthy, but he did have a solid game in Week 2 against the Colts. Should you start Worthy in your fantasy football lineups in Week 4, or is he best left on the bench? Let’s take a look at what to expect from Worthy this week.
Worthy has actually played more snaps than any wide receiver for the Chiefs in the last two weeks. He played 83% of snaps in Week 3 and 86% in Week 2. He has run more routes than any other player on the team as well, but he only has a 16.5% target share, landing him behind Rashee Rice and TE Travis Kelce.
Worthy has yet to put up more than 25 receiving yards in any game this season, only reaching 13.5 DraftKings points in Week 2 with the help of a one-yard touchdown against the Colts. He does have multiple catches in each game, but his total receiving yards and his overall involvement have been disappointing.
The Chiefs’ offense has looked much better overall this year than last year, but it has relied more heavily on new acquisition RB Kenneth Walker and veteran tight end Travis Kelce. With Rashee Rice also in the mix and even Tyquan Thornton getting some deep looks ahead of Worthy, the big-play threat is very hard to trust in fantasy lineups at this point in the season.
Worthy does still have big-play potential, and both QB Patrick Mahomes and OC Eric Bieniemy went out of their way to praise his work and mindset this week. Mahomes said, “I think he’s doing everything he’s supposed to do it’s just the ball hasn’t went his way in certain situations… if he continues to put in this work, the plays are going to happen to him.”
The Raiders would appear to be a favorable matchup for Worthy, but they have actually allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to WR this year, and have been much more vulnerable to production from tight ends, which could set up a big Travis Kelce game, rather than a breakout game for Worthy.
While he is still worth holding onto in most leagues due to his potential down the road in a good offense, it’s best to leave Worthy on your bench until he gets more targets and puts up more reliable production.
At this point, he’s not even a WR5 in standard-sized leagues, so you probably have a more reliable option to put in your season-long starting lineups. If you do want to take a shot on Worthy making a big play or two and putting up a good week, he is a cheap option that could help differentiate your DFS lineups in tournaments like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] this week.
