Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was on his podcast “New Heights” with his brother Jason Kelce as he talked about a bevy of topics surrounding offseason activities such as mini camp. During the show, he spoke about Chiefs rookie Jared Wiley who he said in a previous interview has a lot of upside and possibly understood the offense faster than he did when he was young.
“I kind of had to like rethink this after I said it after the interview,” Kelce said. “I had a completely different offense when I came in than he did. And I think my skill set obviously is for this type of offense that I'm in now, more so than you know the run first type offense that we had with Jamal Charles when I first got into the league. That being said I see a lot in Jared that suits this offense way better than I suited the offense that I was in when I first got here. That's kind of how like I initially feel, I'm like man he's light years, he's making way more plays, he's way more comfortable in how he's like running routes, how he's seeing the field and I think that's a test to you know how smart he is.”
Wiley was taken with Kansas City's fourth round pick where he spent the first three seasons with the University of Texas to little production until he transferred to TCU where he was solid in his last year, catching 47 passes for 520 yards and eight touchdowns. He had been getting some buzz from the Chiefs organization as some think that since Kelce is in the twilight years of his career, that Wiley could be the potential successor.
Kelce says Wiley has a “lot of upside”
Kelce has no doubt been one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game of football, which is why when he spoke highly of how Wiley has been performing, it caught the attention of everybody. In his original comments, he would even say that the 23-year old from Texas is “a lot further along than I was a rookie” according to Sports Illustrated.
“J-Wiley, man!” Kelce said. “I'll tell you what, man, he's got a lot of upside. He's got a lot of upside. Very comfortable, smart guy. I would say he's a lot further along than I was as a rookie in terms of just understanding the offense and really seeing the field. He's trusting what he's seeing right now and I'll tell you what, 15 (Patrick Mahomes) [and] 11 (Carson Wentz), the quarterbacks, are on time with it. It's fun to watch him kind of take off and get more comfortable out there.”
Wiley wants to be a “key contributor” for Chiefs
While some may think that Wiley will be more of a long-term product for the Chiefs since they still have Kelce, the rookie believes he can make an impact right from the very beginning. When explaining his goals coming into the league, he said it is to “learn the offense as fast as possible” and be a “key contributor” as it does not matter the aspect whether it be on offense or special teams.
“As far as the coaches, just get in here and learn the offense as fast as possible and be a key contributor on the team however that looks, whether it’s special teams, offense, whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do it,” Wiley said per Sports Illustrated. “My expectations of myself are basically that, I want to come in here, I want to get comfortable, I want to learn the brand and style of football they play here in Kansas City. I want to be able to do that to the best of my ability.”
Wiley talks the transition from quarterback to tight end
If there is a team to unlock offensive potential, it is the Chiefs as Wiley is best fit to become a star player as besides learning from Kelce, his head coach is a guru on that side of the ball in Andy Reid and his quarterback is superstar Patrick Mahomes. Despite all the positive facets of the situation he is in, Wiley admits he is a raw product since he made the transition from quarterback to tight end when he started college.
“First off, that transition was a little bit tougher,” Wiley said. “I played quarterback in high school so I really never experienced college football and then they were like, ‘Hey you’re going to go play tight end.’ So that was a little different. A lot of run-blocking drills, a lot of practicing went into it. My favorite thing about tight end is I feel like it’s – aside from the quarterback – I feel like it’s the most essential part of your offense, we’re asked to do everything whether it’s in the pass game or in the run game or pass protection. I kind of like having that pressure or weight on my shoulders a little bit, and I like being able to prove to myself and to everybody else that I’m completely capable of doing it.”
In any sense, Wiley is looking to contribute to a team that is coming off of a Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs are looking to win their third straight championship as they start the upcoming season against the Baltimore Ravens in the first game of the NFL year on Thursday, Sept. 5.
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