{"id":245313,"date":"2025-09-06T08:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T12:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=245313"},"modified":"2025-09-06T09:07:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T13:07:23","slug":"3-receivers-that-could-replace-xavier-worthy-after-shoulder-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/06\/3-receivers-that-could-replace-xavier-worthy-after-shoulder-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Receivers That Could Replace Xavier Worthy After Shoulder Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered insult and injury in the season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>, as 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy hurt his shoulder when he collided with tight end Travis Kelce. As of this posting, we do not know the severity of the injury, but seeing as the team immediately ruled him out, it could be a while before we see him on the field again.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs entered the season with questionable depth at the wide receiver position, and Worthy’s injury only exacerbates the issue. With Rashee Rice suspended<\/a>, Patrick Mahomes and company must find someone capable of catching passes and keeping the offense afloat. While the pickings are slim during this time of the year, there are a few interesting options available.<\/p>\n

3 Receivers The Chiefs Could Sign After The Xavier Worthy Injury<\/h2>\n

Best Fits<\/h3>\n

Kendrick Bourne<\/h4>\n

As of this posting, former New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is still a free agent and is likely the best player remaining on the market. While he has already completed visits<\/a> with the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders, the Chiefs could swoop in at the last second and steal the former 800-yard receiver in the wake of the Xavier Worthy injury. While Bourne lacks Worthy’s breakaway speed, he’s great after the catch and could be a natural fit for a creative offensive mind like Andy Reid.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"free
Main Photo: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nelson Agholor<\/h4>\n

Nelson Agholor has lost a step, but the former first-round pick is probably the best pure deep threat left on the open market. Agholor has never been the most versatile player, but his straight-line speed has always been a positive for any offense. Maybe he won’t catch the most passes, but he can clear up the underneath routes by forcing defenses to respect his speed. If nothing else, the veteran could provide some much-needed competition for the unproven Tyquan Thornton<\/a>, who currently figures to be a big part of the passing attack, for better or worse.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Brandin
Dec 9, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Brandin Cooks (3) catches a touchdown pass over Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Josh Newton (28) during the second half at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TRADE: Brandin Cooks<\/h4>\n

Most teams aren’t willing to trade wide receivers at this stage of the year as, on paper, all 32 teams are alive in the playoff race. However, New Orleans could be the exception to this rule, as Kellen Moore’s squad is clearly embracing a long-overdue rebuild. While there’s plenty of value in seeing what young players like Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed can do with Spencer Rattler and (eventually) rookie Tyler Shough<\/a>, it’s hard to see where Brandin Cooks fits into the current picture.<\/p>\n

Cooks used to be one of the league’s premier deep threats in Dallas, but the 31-year-old no longer has the speed to beat defenses deep consistently. The 2014 first-round pick is nothing more than a depth player at this stage in his career, and he probably doesn’t want to waste his final years on a team with no chance of competing. The Saints would probably trade him for a late-round pick swap, and the Chiefs should make that deal.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Stephen Lew – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xavier Worthy suffered a gruesome shoulder injury in Week 1, and the Kansas City Chiefs may have to sign another receiver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":245316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,16],"tags":[354,7811,2967,1438,7659,339,32377],"class_list":["post-245313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-chiefs","tag-brandin-cooks","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-kendrick-bourne","tag-nelson-agholor","tag-saints-featured","tag-travis-kelce","tag-xavier-worthy"],"modified_by":"Mike Kashuba","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245313"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245329,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245313\/revisions\/245329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}