Why PFF is still too low on Texas football WR Xavier Worthy

The star wide receiver for Texas football in 2022 is clearly sophomore Xavier Worthy. Texas has a truly loaded receiving corps in 2022, led by Worthy, redshirt junior Jordan Whittington, and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Neyor.

Worthy will be the catalyst for Texas’ receiving corps this fall. Texas is going to get the offense going behind the likes of Worthy in the passing game and star junior running back Bijan Robinson on the ground.

The star presence of Worthy last year definitely put the entire college football landscape on notice. He is truly one of the best returning wide receivers in the entire country this year.

Pro Football Focus recognized that in their list of the top 10 wide receivers in college football this week. But there was one notable issue with the ranking from PFF, which otherwise seemed pretty agreeable at first sight.

PFF should have Texas football star Xavier Worthy ranked among the top 3 wideouts for 2022

Worthy clocked in at No. 4 on this list of the top 10 wide receivers in college football from Anthony Treash of PFF on July 15. The three wideouts he ranked behind were Kayshon Boutte of the LSU Tigers, Jordan Addison of the USC Trojans, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

I personally have no problem with Worthy ranking behind Addison and Smith-Njigba on this list. Addison is the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner and Smith-Njigba might’ve had the most dominant end to the 2022 season of any skill position player in the entire country.

But Worthy ranking behind Boutte brings up some questions.

First and foremost, Boutte has registered just over 1,200 receiving and 1,200 total yards from scrimmage in two seasons at LSU. He also had 14 receiving touchdowns in the last two seasons at LSU.

In just one season at Texas as a true freshman, Worthy registered 981 receiving yards and a dozen receiving touchdowns.

Worthy nearly has the same numbers as Boutte from one season at Texas as Kayshon had in two years at LSU.

More proof lies in the pudding here. Worthy averaged nearly 16 yards per catch last season, compared to 15 exactly for Boutte in the last two seasons.

Boutte also has nine drops on roughly 125 targets in the last two seasons. Meanwhile, Worthy has three drops in nearly 105 targets from last season.

And the most difficult part about deciphering why Boutte is ranked ahead of Worthy has to do with the PFF grades themselves. Worthy outpaced Boutte in receiving grade, offensive grade, and drop grade last season. If you compare that trio of PFF grades for each wideout’s career, Worthy also has the edge in all three categories.

That’s not to mention those tend to be the three most commonly used wide receiver grades by PFF.

All in all, it’s difficult to see why Worthy doesn’t crack the top three on this list. I have no problem with Addison and Smith-Njigba being ranked ahead of Worthy. But it doesn’t seem right for Boutte to get the edge over him.

And don’t get me wrong, the playmaking ability that Boutte brings to the table for LSU is something special. He just doesn’t have the same proficiency that we saw from Worthy for the Longhorns last season.

Worthy has All-American and even possible Heisman candidacy potential in 2022. He would certainly have to dramatically boost his production this fall to get Heisman-level hype. But head coach Steve Sarkisian has won a Heisman with a dynamic wide receiver before in Alabama’s De’Vonta Smith. It’s not out of the question that a wideout as skilled as Worthy could be a Heisman finalist in the near future.