Kansas City Chiefs: Chris Conley has opportunity to shine in Jacksonville
The Kansas City Chiefs saw another one of their own depart for another team in free agency. This time, it was Chris Conley, who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After four years with the Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver Chris Conley is moving on. The former third round pick signed with the Jaguars on Saturday and will no longer be wearing red and gold.
The move isn’t shocking, but it’s a bummer that Conley’s tenure as a Chief went the way it did. Kansas City spent a third round pick on Conley in the 2015 NFL Draft with the hope that he could become a menacing number two wideout next to Jeremy Maclin.
That never happened for Conley and now he has an opportunity for a fresh start in Jacksonville.
The #Jaguars are making a pair of moves on offense around Nick Foles this morning. They’re signing WR Chris Conley, who had five TDs for the #Chiefs last year and former #Bengals first-round OT Cedric Ogbuehi, sources say.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 16, 2019
Conley finished his Chiefs tenure with 104 receptions for 1,238 yards and six touchdowns, with five of those touchdowns coming last season. Prior to that he had just one touchdown in his first three seasons (though the 2017 season only saw him play in five games after an injury sidelined him for the rest of the year).
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I always liked Chris Conley and wanted him to do well. He seemed like a cool guy and someone that fans could have latched onto and really pulled for. His production on the field just wasn’t that of what a third round pick should produce.
In his first three years, some might have blamed the lack of production on Alex Smith being the quarterback, but Conley’s targets weren’t much higher with Patrick Mahomes at the helm. It appeared by the end of the season that Demarcus Robinson and even Gehrig Dieter had leapfrogged Conley on the depth chart and that was writing on the wall for the former Georgia product.
Jacksonville should be a nice spot for Conley to re-invent himself. They just signed Nick Foles to be their quarterback and Conley could serve as a nice weapon for Foles. Remember – Foles spent a season in Kansas City as the backup to Smith, so he and Conley have played together before.
Conley is never going to be a number one wide receiver, but in the right situation and with the right quarterback, he could be a serviceable number two option and hopefully he gets that chance with the Jaguars.
It might not have worked out for Conley in Kansas City, but Chiefs fans should wish him well in his future endeavors. He seemed grateful for his time spent with the organization, but sometimes draft picks don’t pan out the way fans want them to.
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The Jaguars have been an interesting franchise recently, having made it to the AFC Championship Game in the 2017 season and then completely falling off this past season. Bringing in Foles to quarterback their offense wasn’t a bad move (though they might have overpaid him just a bit) and their defense was electric in 2017. They’re a fun team to watch when everything is clicking.
Good luck in Jacksonville, Chris Conley!