Kansas City Chiefs: Chris Conley becoming reliable red zone target
Chris Conley hadn’t done much in his first three NFL seasons, but he’s already standing out more in year four. He’s becoming one of the best red zone weapons on the Kansas City Chiefs offense.
The Kansas City Chiefs desperately needed a wide receiver after failing to connect with one for a touchdown at all during the 2014 season. In the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Chiefs drafted a wide receiver, but it was a lesser known one than some of the other guys on the board at that time. That player was Chris Conley.
Conley, who spent his collegiate career at Georgia, was thought to immediately compete for the number two wideout job. He’d be on the opposite side of the field as Jeremy Maclin, who the Chiefs signed in free agency less than a month before drafting Conley.
In his first three years as an NFL wide receiver, Chris Conley had just 72 receptions for 904 yards with one touchdown. He was disappointing to say the least.
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Whether it was having Alex Smith as his quarterback or just that Conley wasn’t transitioning very well to the pros, the lack of production was frustrating. Conley did have a big touchdown grab in that playoff win down in Houston, but hadn’t had much success other than that moment.
We all knew the potential was there too. Whenever Smith would connect with Conley down the field, it was usually on a big play.
There was one reception in particular that comes to mind, which was against the Raiders on Thursday Night Football in 2016. It was a big throw from Smith and an even bigger catch from Conley, which resulted in a critical first down in that game.
Last year, Conley looked to be finally getting into a groove, but unfortunately he went down with an injury in the fifth game of the season and missed the rest of the year. The Chiefs receivers lost a step without Conley and that’s not something many fans would have thought they’d have said prior to the 2017 season.
With Smith now off to D.C. and Patrick Mahomes as the Chiefs quarterback, Conley has already passed his career touchdown total and we’re not even a month into the season. In just three games, Conley has caught two touchdowns to go along with 45 yards receiving. He doubled his previous career touchdown total in the span of three games.
This is already a different Chris Conley than who we had grown accustomed to watching over the last few years. Conley was always talented, but something wasn’t clicking with him and Smith. He’s been a go-to guy for Mahomes in the red zone and that’s something the Chiefs offense did not have last year.
Whether this nice start will roll on throughout the year and get Conley a second contract with the Chiefs remains to be seen, but so far, Kansas City has to be loving this new red zone target for their electric quarterback.