Every year, the most polarizing offseason event outside of the NFL Draft comes to you from the NFL Scouting Combine, and the event most people are looking at is the 40-yard dash.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy had NFL coaches and scouts drooling and checking their stopwatches at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last year when he ran the fastest 40-yard dash in Combine history. Let’s revisit Worthy’s blistering run as the 2025 NFL Combine gets underway.
Xavier Worthy’s Record-Breaking 40-Yard Dash
Before the NFL Combine, Worthy was already garnering significant attention from NFL teams thanks to his production at Texas. He was already being projected as a late-first- or early-second-round pick. However, his draft stock soared after his terrific performance in Indianapolis.
He clocked an impressive 4.25s on his first attempt before running the fastest 40-yard dash time of 4.21s in NFL Combine history on his second attempt. The previous NFL Combine record was 4.22s, held by the Cincinnati Bengals’ first-round pick, John Ross, who ran it in 2017.
Throwback to when Xavier Worthy set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at 4.21 during last year's #NFLCombine 👏💨
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/nsEDv6rYTJ
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX)
After his record-setting run, Worthy was actually disappointed with his time.
“I feel like if I had another run, I would’ve gone faster,” Worthy said in an interview with Rich Eisen.
Anyone who watched Worthy’s college tape knows that his speed translates to on-field success, as he was very successful throughout his three seasons at Texas.
The Kansas City Chiefs liked what they saw, selecting him with the No. 28 pick in the first round. Even though he started slow, he had 59 catches for 638 yards on an average of 10.8 yards per catch in the 2024 regular season. Additionally, his red-zone prowess has been blossoming, with six touchdowns to his name.
His speed has also been an asset on the ground where the Chiefs have used him in trick plays, reverses, and jet sweeps. He scored three additional touchdowns with his 20 carries.
However, his improvement was more clearly visible in the postseason. After a relatively quiet 45-yard, no-touchdown game against the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round, the rook exploded against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game. Tallying 85 yards on just seven targets and a touchdown while adding 16 rushing yards to his total, Worthy crossed the 100-total-scrimmage-yards mark.
By the end of the playoffs, he led all players in receiving yards (287) and recorded three touchdowns. In the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Worthy had 157 yards and two touchdowns — the most receiving yards by a rookie in Super Bowl history.
