It's always fun when the Kansas City Chiefs draft a pair of rookies who will face off against each other in practice.
That was the case in the 2024 NFL draft with first-round wide receiver Xavier Worthy and sixth-round cornerback Kamal Hadden. A pair of players on opposite sides of the ball, with one selected atop the draft and another later in the draft to a crowded position group. It's really the perfect rookie rivalry in many ways as both players seek to prove themselves in the NFL.
On Saturday, the two got out on the field for the first time at rookie minicamp and faced each other in a one-on-one drill during practice. Hadden was asked about his first impression of Worthy. The look on his face told the entire story.
"Xavier (Worthy), he’s a great receiver," Hadden said of his new teammate. "The speed is one thing, but I feel like he runs great routes. He’s a great route runner and he’s a guy that can get open and I feel like he’s a guy that’s going to make a lot of plays in the league and he’s going to do his thing here."
By all accounts, Worthy was a blur during the first practice session. His speed, acceleration, deceleration, and quickness were on full display.
In some instances, he was moving too quickly for his own good. Those are the exact types of details this headstart allows rookies to iron out ahead of OTAs and once the pads come on at training camp.
As both players get settled with their new team, Hadden is taking the opportunity to face Worthy in practice as a chance for him to get better at his own craft. He never faced Worthy when the two were in college, but he knows that every rep against him will make him a better professional and vice versa.
"It was just good to go against him and see just different receivers," he said. "I never played against him in college but I saw him a lot so it was a good iron-sharpens-iron rep. I just want to take the whole thing and be appreciative that I can go against somebody like that to get me better and I can also get him better as well.”
That's the exact type of competition you want to see, too. If Worthy gets the advantage over Hadden on one rep, you want him to learn and win the next rep that the two get against each other.
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