On Texas Football: What was the reason behind Xavier Worthy's 2022 regression?
The debut episode of Football Theory with former Longhorn All-American Rod Babers and Ian Boyd looks at what made the 2022 season difficult for Xavier Worthy and how he can bounce back this season.
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Babers explains how Worthy is set to be the featured wide receiver target this season, but that also means opposing defensive coordinators will make sure they will focus on him. That was evident some last year, as Worthy received most of the attention from opposing defenses but there wasn’t a teammate at the receiver position who could help take pressure off of him.
“I think he was a little bit easier to find for defensive coordinators,” Boyd added. “They had to play a lot of 12 personnel. Sometimes they would play with six offensive linemen on the field, and if they weren’t playing with six they had Gunnar Helm out there.”
Boyd continued, “the other wide receiver was Jordan (Whittington), who is really, naturally, a slot. I think Worthy was easy to find, easier to match up, and I think a little easier to jam and knock off his line.”
Babers added, “I would try my best to get a jam to re-route Xavier Worthy. Let’s be honest, one of the things you may consider a shortcoming that’s part of his skill set and his traits is that he is slight. He is a slight receiver, skinny, whatever you want to call it. But we know Sark likes those guys.”
Babers said DeVonta Smith represents the ideal receiver in Sarkisian’s offense. Like Worthy, Smith was slight of build with the Alabama Crimson Tide. His success helped pave the way for other slight wideouts to become appreciable by the NFL, and he sees Worthy as a potential analog this year.
Sarkisian’s propensity for the deep ball is brought up next, and the two discuss how Worthy became the default deep threat in 2022 after Isaiah Neyor was lost for the year. Jordan Whittington and Casey Cain couldn’t hold up in those responsibilities, and it was a struggle for Worthy.
“The average depth of target for Xavier Worthy over the last two years?” Babers asked. “Last season, 17.6 average depth of target. His yards after the catch per reception? 5.4. He was a YAC monster, as you know, in year one. 8.5 yards after the catch per reception in 2021 with a 13.0 average depth of target. The extra yardage, three or four yards he used to gain in yards after the catch? He lost that last season and added that with his average depth of target.”
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The two then try to figure out how to make those targets and opportunities for Worthy more efficient and more effective.
One of the ways they discuss is the use of motion, something Boyd argues has been a part of Sarkisian’s philosophy since his stint as a head coach at USC. Babers uses the stat of “targets to motion” as a way to help Worthy, explaining that Sarkisian’s offenses in its last three years have 9.8, 8.4, and 10.0 ypa when his quarterbacks are targeting motion.
“He should do it more, and I think for X-Man, moving him around and you talk about a guy who is slight, that’s another way to avoid defenders getting their hands on Xavier Worthy,” Babers said. ” Keep him in constant motion.”
Boyd shows a few different ways in the video that Texas can use schematically to make Worthy more effective in the pass game.
To sum it all up, motion “creates space,” according to Babers.
There’s a ton to check out in the video, including more ways for Texas to unlock the ability of Worthy this year.
