PFF has made its pick, and I have made mine. Who’s your breakout pick?
On Thursday, Pro Football Focus published its “Post-NFL draft breakout candidates for all 32 teams,” which included a selection for the Kansas City Chiefs:
PFF’s choice: safety Jaden Hicks
With Justin Reid off to New Orleans, there is a key role in Steve Spagnuolo’s defense potentially opening up for Hicks to overtake and deliver a breakout season in Year 2,” wrote Jonathon Macri. “Hicks played just under 500 defensive snaps as a rookie, earning a 75.7 coverage grade, ranking 13th among qualifying safeties and leading to a top-20 overall grade (75.1) on the season. With the Chiefs not adding significant competition to the safety room this offseason, Hicks is in a great spot to play a much larger role in 2025.”
My take
Although Hicks wouldn’t have been my choice, I understand the selection. Kansas City’s safety train — from Tyrann Mathieu to Juan Thornhill to Justin Reid, and most recently Bryan Cook — keeps rolling along. Now, it is up to Hicks to prove he can make an impact as a starter. On Hicks, one stat stands out among the rest: despite playing only a third of the defensive snaps logged by the top safeties, he led the team with three interceptions as a rookie. What does that number look like with starter snaps?
But my pick is wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
There was an NFL Scouting Combine nugget that may have slipped under the radar: head coach Andy Reid complimenting Worthy as an all-around receiver — and specifically how he showed that through the final stretch of the regular season.
Worthy completed his rookie season with 59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns, adding another 19 receptions for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs. Toward the end of last year, he often referenced the Week 11 matchup against the Buffalo Bills as when things really began clicking for him.
If we compile only that seven-game stretch from Week 11 to Week 17 (he didn’t play Week 18), Worthy hauled in 39 catches for 392 yards and three touchdowns. If we stretch that output over 17 games, Worthy finishes with 95 catches for 952 yards and seven touchdowns.
I think he could prove even better than that, getting over that 1,000-yard threshold.
