KC Chiefs: The Battle For The Second Wide Receiver Spot

The KC Chiefs had their first week of OTAs last week and commenced their second string of OTAs on Tuesday. One question is still out there as far as the offense goes and it’s who will be the second starting wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs come week one of the regular season?

The main debate right now seems to be between second year man Albert Wilson and third round pick in 2015’s draft Chris Conley. Of course, neither of these two could end up being the starter, but I agree that it looks likely that one of these guys will get the nod at number two receiver.

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Albert Wilson was signed by Kansas City after going undrafted in last year’s draft. Honestly, Wilson probably wouldn’t have made much of an impact on many other teams, but the Chiefs had limited options at wide receiver in 2014.

Wilson turned eyes throughout the season and was even the recipient of Alex Smith‘s longest pass last year – a 48-yarder at Arrowhead against the Oakland Raiders. Wilson became a favorite target for Smith, and we shouldn’t expect that to slow down heading into 2015.

As Sean Keeler of Fox Sports put it,

"Conley has been penciled in as a front-runner from the word ‘Go,’ but Wilson has 12 games under his belt already, a year in the system, insane quicks and a comfort zone with Avant and quarterback Alex Smith. Coach Andy Reid likes what he can trust, and that trust must be earned between the stripes."

I couldn’t agree more with what Keeler is saying. At one point, I felt like Jason Avant would be the number two receiver due to his experience in the NFL, but Wilson is not a bad option for the KC Chiefs to lean on. He’s fast and can make plays, which are very important when catching a football obviously.

Now onto Chris Conley. Chiefs fans were pretty upset when John Dorsey passed up on a wide receiver in the first two rounds that when Conley’s name was called, we all were just so excited that a receiver had actually been drafted by the Chiefs.

Conley played at Georgia during college and even caught a bunch of touchdowns from third string Chiefs quarterback Aaron Murray. Conley was quoted in Keeler’s article saying,

"“Really, Jason Avant put it this way when he talked to us rookies,” the gifted rookie noted philosophically. “He said, ‘You’ve got to allow yourself to fail, and you’ve got to learn to forgive yourself.’ And you know, it’s difficult, because you’re coming from college, after you were that guy — you did everything right. You knew everything and you knew how to do it and beat people.“And when you’re starting at the bottom, you don’t know everything. You don’t know how to beat everyone yet. And you’re kind of taking your first steps and you’re learning and you’ve got to be able to just go full-speed, do what you can."

It’s interesting really because most third rounders wouldn’t be thought of as an immediate starter. That’s just how bad this wide receiving corp was in Kansas City last year. Not to say that Conley doesn’t have potential or anything, but normally teams use third rounders as third or fourth main receivers.

Anyway, I would feel more confident giving Albert Wilson the start for the time being, but I have faith that Chris Conley will be able to provide the Kansas City Chiefs with exactly what they need down the stretch.

Next: Should the Chiefs Consider Signing Wes Welker?

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