Chiefs Offseason Planet Evaluation: Chris Conley

[Rain Man]

Setting aside the horror of a slow motion video of an achilles popping, how did Chris Conley do this year?

Chris played in 5 games this year, with 5 starts. He had 175 yards in receptions this year at 15.9 yards per catch. He neither scored nor fumbled.

He also returned 1 kickoff for 8 yards, and we all know how that went.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by gonefishin53

If Conley is fully recovered from injury, I think Mahomes will target Conley more than Alex did because Mahomes has better field vision and will throw to Conley's back shoulder because of the confidence in his arm strength and accuracy.

Shit, he's gonna target all the receivers way more. Mahomes is going to throw for 5000 yards so that means Conley gets 800 min.

[Chief Northman]

Conley puzzles me. His measurables suggest he should be a big play receiver that can scare defenses, yet he patterns more as a possession receiver always leaving you wanting a bit more. He makes some nice drive-extending grabs. He shows long speed every so often. His hands are generally good. But why do we rarely see him having having red zone success? Why is he not targeted more?

This is just me, but I get a vibe that football is not the most important thing to Chris Conley. I won’t shred him for it, but there is something to be desired about his play that I can’t quite pinpoint.

[CoMoChief]

He's coming off of a major injury, and really his only claim to fame is his combine numbers. Hasn't really proven anything in the league to where defenses have to respect him. He's easily replaceable.

In fact I wish the Chiefs would go balls deep for Jarvis Landry. Very consistent and reliable, would be perfect go to for Mahomes. I'd let Wilson walk unless he's extremely cheap and draft someone like Coutee, Pettis, or take a gamble on Antonio Callaway late in the draft if he's still there. I know he has potentially major off field issues. But if he's there in the 6th or 7th rd do you take a gamble on a 1st rd level talent? If he doesn't pan out, so what its just a 6th or 7th rd pick, they get cut all the time, you take the small loss and move on.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Chief Northman

Conley puzzles me. His measurables suggest he should be a big play receiver that can scare defenses, yet he patterns more as a possession receiver always leaving you wanting a bit more. He makes some nice drive-extending grabs. He shows long speed every so often. His hands are generally good.But why do we rarely see him having having red zone success? Why is he not targeted more?

This is just me, but I get a vibe that football is not the most important thing to Chris Conley. I won’t shred him for it, but there is something to be desired about his play that I can’t quite pinpoint.

Alex Smith. It’s astonishing that that pussy wouldn’t throw 1 fade to him in 3 years.

[Easy 6]

Between the missed time, and Smiths reluctance to use him, Conley is tough to grade... so lets go C+ for now

Slightly worse than expectations, but again, there are uncontrollable factors at play

Much larger role

Ascending

3rd

Reasonably conversant

[Rain Man]

I've been wondering recently if a #2 WR should even exist. In a world where you can have only 11 players on the field, is a second WR the best way to use one of those spots? #2 WRs never catch a lot of balls because it seems like they're usually the third read at best. You think back to teams that have been successful, and it's hard to name their #2 WRs. Most of the time their job appears to be keeping a CB distracted so the rest of the team can play a 10 on 10 game. I'm starting to wonder if you shouldn't replace the #2 WR with another TE or RB or a lineman who masquerades as a TE.

[MahiMike]

Makes great videos

[Otter]

I want to see him play under Mahomes. Always thought he was under utilized with Alex throwing the ball due to Alex's reluctance to allow the receiver to make a play which I think would be Conley's forte'. He's on a blank slate next year as far as I'm concerned and expect good/great things.

[Easy 6]

As long as Conley is ready to roll, theres no real reason to expect anything other than good production... with his size and speed, he should be the perfect complement across from Hill

In spite of his timed speed, he just isnt one of those guys who consistently gets 'Alex Smith open', he doesnt have great quickness to break wide open, it takes him some time to hit 5th gear... but Mahomes is a different kind of animal, he'll throw Chris open

And if he doesnt, I foresee Robinson getting the call to replace him

I see you eyeballing that take and wanting to shred it, Dane... but every time he and Mahomes are on the field at the same time, Robinson is usually the recipient of a patented highlight throw

[Deberg_1990]

I think him and Albert Wilson are going to benefit greatly playing with Mahomes.

[Rain Man]

The story of Chris Conley appears to be untapped potential.

2.12 Grade (4.0 point scale)
-0.66 Performance Relative to Expectations (+ = Positive Surprise, - = Negative Surprise)
1.62 Desired Future Role (+ is larger role, - is smaller role)
0.43 Ascending/Descending (+ is ascending, - is descending)
3.47 Trade Value (Round, also, zero = 2 1st rounders, negative = wouldn't trade)

[prhom]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I've been wondering recently if a #2 WR should even exist. In a world where you can have only 11 players on the field, is a second WR the best way to use one of those spots? #2 WRs never catch a lot of balls because it seems like they're usually the third read at best. You think back to teams that have been successful, and it's hard to name their #2 WRs. Most of the time their job appears to be keeping a CB distracted so the rest of the team can play a 10 on 10 game. I'm starting to wonder if you shouldn't replace the #2 WR with another TE or RB or a lineman who masquerades as a TE.

The part about more TEs is an interesting one to me as well. Why are teams content having just one really good TE? Is it just that much harder to find than WRs? The Pats were tearing teams up with the two TE sets using Gronk and Hernandez. Seemingly no team is interested in trying to replicate that success. You could argue that Kelce and Hill are our WR1 and WR2 as much as Kelce is involved in the passing game.