Wide Receiver · Kansas City Chiefs · Age 23 · Texas · WR38 Half-PPR (Season 2026)
Xavier Worthy is ranked WR38 (overall #83) for the Season of the 2026 NFL season in Half-PPR fantasy football by Hayden of The Underdog Football Show. Hayden has Xavier Worthy ranked 11 spots higher than their Underdog ADP of 94.1, flagging this as a value pick.
Worthy has bounce back sleeper appeal with Rice/Kelce feeling dicey
Worthy's sophomore season was a total bust, but how much of that can be contextualized with random injuries is the question. He suffered a dislocated shoulder from Travis Kelce in Week 1, played through it, and then had surgery immediately following the season. He also picked up an ankle injury in Week 5, then had a setback in Week 13 on it. Coach Andy Reid said, "I would tell you that we kind of, after that, we were afraid to do certain things with (Worthy). So I think him coming back healthy, I think opens up that whole picture you saw during training camp, where he had a whole bunch of different routes in there.” My interpretation of that is some of the underneath work that Rashee Rice (knee/jail) and Travis Kelce (old) could flow to Worthy in 2026, too. The data backs this up. His average depth of target increased from 8.9 yards to 12.9. His screen targets per game dropped from 1.2 to 0.5, too. Reid also specifically mentioned they limited his crossing routes in 2025, and that's an excellent route for Worthy to showcase his speed. Worthy will always be a deep threat with his record-breaking speed, but he can't be the WR55 in targets and be a fantasy starter. An increase in targets is possible, whether it's from the Reid statement, Kelce falling completely off in his age-37 season, or if Rice has a setback on or off the field. It's still possible, even if unlikely, that Rice gets a modest suspension for violating his plea deal and making the NFL look bad. On tape, Worthy clearly had issues last year. His size provides obvious problems, but last year, he simply wasn't moving at an elite pace in a straight line and especially coming out of his breaks. Worthy did that some in college and as a rookie, so a bounce back is expected if he is actually healthy coming into training camp. Worthy was full PPR's WR27 on WR33 usage as a rookie before collapsing to WR59 on WR51 usage in 2025. I'm buying him as the WR44 right now.
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Hayden is a fantasy football analyst for The Underdog Football Show, covering 2026 fantasy football with PPR and Half-PPR rankings, ADP comparisons, and weekly start/sit analysis. Rankings are updated regularly throughout the season. Hayden's "Best Bet" designations highlight players ranked higher than their ADP consensus, while "Fade" designations flag players the ranker believes are overvalued by the market.
By Hayden · The Underdog Football Show · Updated 2026-07-06