Texas Football: 3 wideouts that will benefit from WR coach Chris Jackson

Xavier Worthy

The Texas wideout that is most in need of having a bounce-back season in 2023 is clearly rising junior Xavier Worthy. The former Freshman All-American took a step back during the 2022 campaign.

While I definitely don’t blame Marion for the year-over-year regression that took place in 2022 for Worthy, I don’t think a change in personnel at WR coach could be necessary for the California native to have a better showing in 2023. Jackson should be able to help Worthy find more maturity and polish to his game.

The ability for Jackson to effectively manage the personalities in this wide receiver room in 2023 should also be something that benefits Worthy.

Moreover, purely in terms of what could be worked on for on-field progression, I think the two areas where Jackson can most help Worthy to improve his game are the in-air adjustments on intermediate and deep targets and blocking.

Worthy did improve year-over-year as a run blocker. But he was still the lowest-graded blocker among the regular starters at wide receiver and/or tight end last season. I would like to see Worthy show more toughness and consistent effort, especially when it comes to his downfield blocking.

And maybe the most notable area of improvement for Worthy is his ability to make adjustments while the ball is in the air. There were a lot of times last season when Worthy had the opportunity to make a play on the ball, especially in the deep passing game, but he wasn’t able to make the proper mid-route adjustment to line up with the trajectory of the throw.

The same could be said for some intermediate targets where Worthy looked to either underrun some routes or just not be on the same page with Quinn Ewers.

Last but not least, it would be huge for Jackson and Worthy to somehow work out some of the drop issues that the elusive playmaker had last season. Worthy led the team in drops last season, with more than a half dozen. He had three drops in the Alamo Bowl alone.

If Worthy is better able to make the necessary mid-route adjustments while the ball is in the air, that could help him become a much more consistent threat in the deep passing game. And being a more consistent blocker will be a factor that helps to boost Worthy’s draft stock in either the 2024 or 2025 class.