Newest WR Used to Being a Voice of Experience

Not long ago, Chris Conley, signed off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad, was the elder statesman of Jacksonville Jaguars wide receivers.

Thomas Shea/USA Today Sports

At least this time Chris Conley has some help.

The last time he left the Kansas City Chiefs and joined a team in the AFC South, he became easily the most experienced wide receiver on the roster.

With the Tennessee Titans, Conley will be one of two at that position with a significant amount of NFL games under his belt. Conley joined the Titans on Tuesday (his 30th birthday) when Tennessee signed him off Kansas City’s practice squad and filled an opening on the roster created when rookie Kyle Philips was placed on injured reserve.

With 213 career receptions for 2,807 yards and 15 touchdowns in 102 career games, Conley brings a wealth of experience matched (or slightly exceeded) by only Robert Woods to the wide receiver room. 

It is similar to 2019 when he signed a free-agent deal with Jacksonville after four seasons with the Chiefs. By 2020, he was the elder statesman of a position group that included four rookies and no one else with more than three full seasons of NFL experience.

“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to be kind of be a gatekeeper,” Conley said during his second training camp with the Jaguars, via the The Florida Times-Union. “To be watching out for those guys, seeing what it is they’re doing on the field, things they’re doing well … and voice those things that come with experience.”

The only wide receivers currently on the active roster other than Woods, who is in his 10th season, are Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Cody Hollister, who have 52 career games played and 58 receptions between them. Philips, fellow rookie Treylon Burks and second-year man Racey McMath – and their combined 17 games and 20 career receptions – are on injured reserve. The practice squad includes, Mason Kinsey (two games, one catch), C.J. Board (24 games, 17 catches) and Dez Fitzpatrick (five games, five catches).

All told, the eight other than Woods collectively gave fewer games played and fewer receptions than their newest teammate.

Conley entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick by Kansas City in 2015. After four years there, he spent two seasons with Jacksonville (2019-20) and one Houston with Houston (2021). He appeared in two games for the Texans this season before being released, which prompted Kansas City to sign him to its practice squad two days later.

His best season to date was 2019 – his first with the Jaguars – when he caught 47 passes for 775 yards and five touchdowns. He has had at least 40 catches two other times in his career, which is a number only one of the other Titans wide receivers – Woods – ever has reached.