Chris Conley’s 3 catches an important sign for Kansas City Chiefs

I’ll take credit for this one. I said before Saturday night’s Kansas City Chiefs-Los Angeles Rams preseason game that Chris Conley was someone to watch. I said I wanted Conley to show everyone else the type of training camp he’s been having.

He did a little bit of that with three catches for 66 yards. Each catch showed something positive from him. Two of them came on third down and all of them came on scoring drives. He’s building that trust with Alex Smith.

The first one came on third and five with the Chiefs in the red zone. This was a timing route as Alex Smith hit Conley on the comeback. Conley nearly broke the tackle which would’ve been a touchdown but he was brought down at the two yard line. Here he is as he made his break. Note the ball is on its way out already.

The second one was the beauty in so many ways. Alex and the Chiefs lined up for a third and two. Conley was split out wide. The Rams brought a safety to the line of scrimmage waiting for a run. The Chiefs may have had a run called initially because, according to BJ Kissel, Alex checked out of that play. He audibled to another play with some sort of signal with Conley. The snap came and Alex lofted one up to Conley, who created separation and made the 37-yard catch on third and two.

I loved the presnap diagnosis and reaction. I loved Alex trusting Conley to make a play. I loved Conley creating quite a bit of separation and making the catch.

The third catch it looked like Conley was the outlet. He lined up close to the line of scrimmage and chipped a rusher as he came off. Nick Foles was pressured and stepped up in the pocket to find Conley, who made two moves to break two tackles and create some YAC. It’s little but note where he caught the ball - about the 43 - and where he ends up - about the 33.

The Chiefs have been searching for their No. 2 receiver, a competition that seems to mostly include he and Albert Wilson (and some Rod Streater). Conley had the better game on Saturday night. That doesn’t mean this competition is over, not by a long shot. However, it does continue to build that trust between Conley and Alex. Conley has all the physical tools in the world so to see him put it together on a consistent basis is pretty exciting.