Chiefs training camp preview: Wide Receiver

This is a very young group with only Maclin and Williams exceeding four years experience in the league. Which means that there is a ton of upside to this group but it also could possibly mean another year of a heavy dose of Maclin and tight end Travis Kelce in the passing game.

Should players like Conley and Robinson become who the Chiefs drafted them to be and free agent signing Rod Streater makes a solid contribution then this offense would be unstoppable. But those are big ifs and the more likely thing to occur is for there to be growing pains in the first part of the season but at some point the group will mature and become productive.

Projected Starters

Jeremy Maclin

Maclin has taken on a real leadership role on this team by taking the other receivers under his wing and working with them outside of voluntary and mandatory workouts. Maclin has also appeared to heal well from his scary ankle sprain from wildcard weekend and is again running and cutting full speed.

In one season together, Maclin and Smith were able to find great chemistry and even hooked up on a few long passes over the top which is what Chiefs fans have been waiting for since Trent Green. That relationship should continue to grow but Maclin may face more double teams and safety help this season, limiting his overall production.

Chris Conley

Conley and Wilson will battle hard for the number two spot during camp and I believe that Conley’s size will win out in his third year over the other receivers. Conley has proven to be a fast and fairly reliable target but his route running needs some polishing. He will have definitely worked with Maclin on the offense and he should step into a much bigger role this year.

Albert WIlson

I will consider Wilson a starter as he will be playing often in a three receiver set and switching out with Conley throughout camp. Wilson showed his abilities mostly in slants and quick-outs during 2015 as he consistently was overthrown on deep routes. I’m not ready to put the overthrows entirely on Alex Smith however as it often looked like Wilson slowed a step and several of the passes were within diving distance. Wilson will be best used in screens and slants should he and Smith struggle to connect again deep.

Next: Intriguing reserves