Jared Wiley insists this year is different. The Kansas City Chiefs seem to feel the same.
One year after stumbling to a 6-11 record, the Chiefs went to work rebuilding or at least retooling nearly every position on the roster. At tight end, however, the same cast of characters are back from a year ago, a vote of confidence from both the front office and coaching staff that they believe the guys they already had in house can get the job done going forward.
Part of that trust is apparently rooted in the difference a season can make for Wiley. One year ago, the former fourth-round pick in the '24 draft was still dealing with the aftermath of a season-ending ACL tear suffered during his rookie year. The physical and mental challenges both presented very real hurdles and Wiley sees them clearly as he looks back from the camp before his third year.
"It's funny. We'll watch last year's preseason, or I'll go back and watch camp from last year, and I'm like, 'God, that looked terrible, dude.' Like it was awful. So I'm definitely feeling like myself again, though," said Wiley with a laugh from training camp practice on Monday.
Wiley was asked about the specifics involved in what he saw, what made last year look so terrible, and he had plenty of examples.
"Just a lot of stiffness. I had a lot of stiffness last year. Still was dealing with some swelling and stuff like that. I would say the main thing though was just mentally trusting yourself. Being able to do OTAs this offseason was a huge help, just working through a bunch of that stuff. Then by the time the season gets here, you've repped these things so many times that you don't even think about it anymore. Whereas last year I felt like I was thinking about a lot before I was going in and out of breaks before I was doing stuff."
Through his first two seasons, Wiley has caught only 2 passes for 11 yards. No one expected him to turn into an offensive pillar when playing behind a legend like Travis Kelce and an already trusted veteran in Noah Gray, who is well into his second contract with the team. But such limited production brought his roster spot into question after a '25 season in which he played only 28 snaps in 5 games.
That the Chiefs failed to make any changes to the position this offseason was a tell that the Chiefs liked the potential of the younger players behind Kelce and Gray to fill in the gaps. That didn't automatically mean that Wiley was safe, with Jake Briningstool and Tre Watson waiting in the wings for more chances to prove they deserve a roster spot. But the Chiefs liked Wiley enough to draft him when they did, and if they knew he was still working through the injury's aftermath, then perhaps their patient approach was the right call.
"I was able to actually work out instead of rehab this offseason, so that was big. Getting with some of my guys, route running, weightlifting, stuff like that, even doing pilates—literally whatever I could do to just try to work through some of those growing pains again," said Wiley about how this offseason has been different.
In a league that's pivoting to more tight end usage, teh Chiefs are either going to ignore the trend or rely on the talent they've already collected. If the latter is the case, Wiley has a very real chance to finally carve out a niche for himself on a roster that could use more trusted targets in the passing game, especially if the Chiefs are more careful about Kelce's usage during a long regular season.
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