Good News: Kelce says Wiley has a “lot of upside”

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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.”

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.