'Fastest Human!' Could Cowboys Draft Scouting Combine Record-Setter Xavier Worthy from Texas?
Texas receiver Xavier Worthy may have run his way to the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys hold the 24th pick in the NFL Draft and one of the most urgent win-now windows in the sport. Another playoff run cut short could mean a changing of the guard at head coach and a potential pivot of aspirations.
Before a fateful 2024 season ensues, improvements will be made, especially at receiver. The NFL Scouting Combine provided no shortage of blazing 40-yard dashes to gawk at, but Worthy stands alone. Having officially run a 4.21 40-yard dash, he’s the Combine’s newest record holder for the fastest of all time.
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Worthy’s stock resided well within the Top 50 entering the weekend, but his performance may have cemented his presence in the first round of every mock draft until the Chicago Bears are truly on the clock.
NFL Network broadcast said Rams GM Les Snead labeled Worthy the "fastest human he's ever evaluated."
Worthy gained some fans with his sprint to the record books, and there’s reason to believe Dallas could be among them. The Cowboys held a formal meeting with Worthy at the Combine and the need for an ancillary target is overly apparent. Receiver Michael Gallup simply underperformed in 2023, and Brandin Cooks didn’t do enough to be considered irreplaceable.
The Cowboys offense was effective in 2023. Quarterback Dak Prescott was phenomenal and his connection with receiver CeeDee Lamb may have been the best in the sport. But when it mattered most, a two-man show proved incapable of carrying Dallas to prominence.
Worthy represents the type of dynamic talent the team lacked in 2023, both by the diminished returns of running back Tony Pollard and the lack of success from secondary receivers. His speed stands out on tape and his ability to turn any catch into a big play is invaluable to an offense.
His accomplishment on Saturday should be celebrated. Record-breaking performances are rare for a reason and in a four-second span an immeasurable amount of training had paid off. But that doesn’t necessarily make him the right pick at No. 24.
Worthy’s warts lie in the physicality that is bound to fall short in a profile so fast. He’s 5-11 and a mere 165 pounds, putting himself in a class of receivers that hasn’t found much success. The game is changing in favor of explosive athletes, but these issues translate to the gridiron. Worthy’s hands are mediocre and he wasn’t trustworthy in contested-catch situations, hauling in just five of 20 opportunities this season.
Some teams are fine with living with that trade-off. Speed kills and it seems every team is searching for their own version of Tyreek Hill. But we didn’t learn anything from Worthy’s run other than that he now owns the record. Boosting his stock because of his Combine is a classic case of double-counting – we already knew he was fast.
If the Cowboys felt his film was worthy, no pun intended, of the 24th pick, then Saturday should only embolden them. This team needs a jumpstart and he embodies lightning in a (very small) bottle. Don’t be surprised if Dallas looks to Texas in the next mock draft you read.
