A new Wiley Tight End for the Chiefs Offense

How Jared Wiley can help the Chiefs in 2024 - and beyond.

We continue our deep dive into the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 Draft Class with another offensive weapon for Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ offense. The Chiefs selected Jared Wiley with the 131st pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and it’s easy to see why he would be interesting to the team.

Wiley shares a similar backstory to the best tight end of all time - Travis Kelce - and that likely played some role in the Chiefs’ intrigue in him. He played quarterback in high school before transitioning to tight end while initially attending Texas. After three seasons honing in his tight end skills as Texas, he transferred to TCU two final collegiate seasons. His final year at TCU saw him lead the Horned Frogs with 47 receptions, 8 TDs, and finish third in receiving yards with 520.

He likely is going to be on a more developmental track than a Day 1 starter - or role player in this case - but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a role. Kelce is obviously the starting TE and Noah Gray has performed well as a TE 2. Let’s hope into Jared Wiley’s film and see what he can bring to the Chiefs’ offense in year one and where he can win in the future with a more prominent role.

Jared Wiley Film Review

For this film review, we are going to split it up not into specific traits or skills Wiley provides to the team but rather by time frame. We’ll at what he can offer to the Chiefs’ offense immediately, what he currently shows flashes of doing well but needs improvement, and finally areas of his game that need to be developed before he’s ready for that full time role.

Where Wiley Can Help Immediately

Wiley is a fantastic athlete at the TE position so it makes sense to find ways for a NFL offense to maximize those traits early on. When talking about TEs, one of the easiest ways to find matchup mismatches with them is getting a body too big for defensive backs and an athlete too fast for linebackers. Wiley checks in at 6’6”, 249 lbs and ran a 4.62 forty yard dash, so he checks that box.

Vertical Stretch

At his size and with that kind of speed, Wiley can easily work vertically from the TE spot and is a legitimate risk to get behind a defense. If teams want to leave the middle of the field open to protect deep passes along the sideline, he presents a large target down the seams with an ability to out-pace linebackers and the size to shield off safeties.

This not only offers up opportunities for him to make an impact for a downfield passing attack but also helps open the field up for other players. Kelce has long been an elite receiving TE but at this point in his career he works best closer to the line of scrimmage. Gray has been given some opportunities on Corner routes but that’s often from space create by others stretching the field vertically. Wiley not only could operate on those same routes - maybe even more so - but he could be the player providing the stretch for others as well.

Wiley isn’t limited to just running to open space down the middle of the field to provide that stretch either. With his athleticism, he can be split out to the slot or wide and still threaten down the field. He runs a good Corner-Post route that puts pressure on a defender vertically before breaking open to space. This just adds another layer to not only Wiley could make an impact as a downfield receiver but also be used as a space creator for other players underneath.

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