Evaluating Texas football’s top 3 impact players for 2022 season

Xavier Worthy, WR

The best weapon that Texas had on the offensive side of the ball down the stretch last season was the breakout star true freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Now in his second year as a proven star in the Big 12, Worthy should be set to have a much more productive season in 2022 even than he had last year.

Worthy was excellent for the Longhorns last season, registering nearly 1,000 receiving yards on 62 catches (15.8 yards per catch), with a dozen touchdown catches.

That was surely an impressive season for Worthy.

But there is still so much more that Sark can do with the former Michigan Wolverines flip.

First off, Texas just needs to get the ball more to Worthy in space. It sounds like a simple concept, but that is something that needs to happen to really maximize Worthy’s potency in this offense.

Texas also needs to get more catchable balls Worthy’s way. Last season, Worthy was targeted more than 100 times, but only came down with 62 catches. Considering how Worthy only had three drops last season, that’s just not an acceptable reception percentage for a wideout that is so dangerous after the catch.

There is a way to look at receiving metrics from last season that shows how many missed opportunities Texas had with Worthy. Among wide receivers with at least 100 targets in the passing game last season in the FBS that also had a drop rate lower than five percent, Worthy had the fewest receptions.

That is largely a fault on the quarterbacks and the lack of spacing in this offense at times. There were a lot of missed deep targets and opportunities to get Worthy on corner routes on the outside.

Yet, the good news is that the Longhorns now have a quarterback that is a much better fit for the three-wide receiver system that Sark runs on offense in redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers. The former Ohio State Buckeyes transfer has that big arm that allows him to make all the throws.

And that will directly benefit Worthy, who will now be able to get the ball more often while taking the top off opposing defenses and get more opportunities to make plays near the sidelines. Ewers will be able to find him on those routes when the likes of Hudson Card and Casey Thompson couldn’t last season.

I really like Worthy to go off for at least 1,200-1,300 total yards and a dozen total touchdowns at a minimum.