Is Chris Conley being held back by the Chiefs offense?
By David Thomas
What do the Kansas City Chiefs have in Chris Conley? Is Alex Smith holding him back? What can we expect from Conley this year and beyond?
With the hype of Tyreek Hill’s season, it almost seems like people have forgotten that he’s not the only athletic freak on the team. The man who has been a solid #2 wide receiver for the last two seasons is Chris Conley. With a 45” vertical jump at the 2015 NFL Combine, Conley owns the record for highest vertical among all positions. Standing at 6’2, 213 lbs., Conley also ran a blazing 40 time at 4.35 seconds.
This past season, Conley reached 530 yards receiving off 44 receptions (no touchdowns). Although he failed to score or have any big games, he was a consistently reliable target with a reception in all but the Falcons game. Out of his 44 receptions 30 were for 1st down, and had 7 of his 10 catches on third down convert into a first down.
Last year. the top three Chiefs wide receivers all had at least 530 yards (536 for Jeremy Maclin, 593 for Tyreek Hill, and 530 for Conley). In the Andy Reid Era the only WR to cross the 1,000 yard mark is Maclin in 2015 with 1,088 yards. Last year, Travis Kelce led the pack in receiving yards with 1,125 yards.
Is Smith holding Chris Conley back?
The Chiefs didn’t just draft Patrick Mahomes for no reason. Smith will be turning 33 and entering his 5th season under Andy Reid. Since arriving, Smith has yet to show significant improvement in his downfield passing. With Smith’s conservative play style, wideouts on the Chiefs don’t have a lot of opportunities to showcase their full ability.
Guys like Hill work well with Smith due to his elite speed and agility in the open field. A guy like Conley works best in the intermediate and deep zones as he’s able to win the sideline and contested balls. Andy Reid knows this and Smith’s yards per completion dropped to an all time low under Smith (10.7) in part due to the playcalling.
To me, Conley’s ceiling is as high as Smith can take him, but the addition of Tyreek Hill may have also hurt his stock. With Maclin, Hill, and Kelce on the team, Conley may never get his chance to be a true No. 1 receiver for the Chiefs. Conley’s contract expires after the 2018 season, and only time will tell if the Chiefs will be able to keep him or not. If he does leave and end up on a more pass-happy team, you can count me as one of the first to call him a potential breakout star.