Texas Longhorns football: Where are the deep shots?
Xavier Worthy‘s best trait is his speed, which makes him a great target for deep passes in Steve Sarkisian’s offense. But so far in 2022, the connection between Worthy and either Longhorn quarterback hasn’t quite been there.
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The sophomore from Fresno, Calif. currently leads the team in receiving yards with 162, a testament to his game being about more than just speed. However, advanced stats show how many opportunities the Longhorns have missed when throwing to Worthy downfield.
Worthy’s average depth of target, per PFF College, is 22.7 yards. That’s over 10 yards farther than Casey Cain‘s ADOT, which is second on the team at 10.8.
On passes of 19 yards or closer, Worthy has been targeted 11 times. He has nine catches for 94 yards on those throws. On passes of 20 yards or more, the type of play Sarkisian loves to dial up, Worthy has been targeted 12 times. He has just two catches for 68 yards.
“When you’re taking shots down the field, it’s kind of like being a home run hitter in baseball,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “Your average probably isn’t going to be as high, but when you connect and you hit it, it’s worth a lot more. We understand that our percentages probably won’t be quite as high.”
Quinn Ewers, who Worthy began recruiting on social media hours after the former Five-Star Plus+ quarterback entered the portal in December, won the starting quarterback job in August because Sarkisian believed he can make all the throws, deep passes included.
Before his injury in the Alabama game, Ewers was 3-for-8 for 93 yards on passes of 20 yards or more to all receivers. His replacement, Hudson Card, is 3-of-11 for 98 yards on similar passes. Neither have thrown a touchdown nor an interception on those routes.
Opportunities for both quarterbacks have been there in all three games. Some throws were inaccurate and fell incomplete. A couple throws went through Worthy’s hands. Some throws had defenders make plenty of contact with Worthy and other receivers.
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“I’d like to think that when you throw the ball deep, good things can happen,” Sarkisian said. “You can catch it. You can create pass interference penalties, which unfortunately we just haven’t gotten. I would argue maybe there could have been a couple. We haven’t gotten those.”
Even though the Longhorns haven’t quite found continued success throwing the ball downfield, it isn’t going to go away despite some measure of uncertainty at quarterback. It’s a key part of Sarkisian’s offense not only because it gains huge chunks of yards, but also because it creates space for Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson on the ground.
It also helps free up other receivers like Cain, Jordan Whittington, Tarique Milton, and even tight ends like Ja’Tavion Sanders.
What’s the best way to convert on more downfield opportunities? Like a home run hitter, Sarkisian believes they just have to keep swinging in games and in practice.
“We’ll continue do it,” Sarkisian said. “Naturally, we’d like to hit them all, but the best way to try to hit them is practice them, which we do. “
