New Chiefs TE Jared Wiley had a ‘tough’ transition from being a high school QB

Before the team’s rookie minicamp on Saturday, Kansas City’s fourth-round selection met with the media.

When the Kansas City Chiefs selected TCU tight end Jared Wiley with the 131st selection of the 2024 NFL Draft last weekend, parallels with a franchise legend were instantly drawn.

The 6-foot-6 Horned Frog was a prep quarterback from Temple, Texas before becoming a full-time tight end upon his arrival at the University of Texas in 2019. That’s a position switch mirroring what happened with Wiley’s new teammate Travis Kelce — arguably the greatest tight end in league history.

According to Wiley, it was far from a simple change. Kelce, at least, had played his high school position in college.

“First off,” he explained to reporters before Saturday’s opening session of Kansas City’s rookie minicamp, “that transition was a little bit tougher. I played quarterback in high school, [but] I never really experienced college football. Then they were like, ‘Hey, you’re going to go play tight end.’ So that was a little different. [There were] a lot of run blocking drills — a lot of practicing — [that] went into it.”

Now that the position change is ancient history, the transition to the NFL will be relatively easy.

“The coaches [say], ‘Just get in here and learn the offense as fast as possible and be a key contributor on the team,’ — however that looks,” revealed Wiley. “Whether it’s special teams, offense — whatever they ask me to do — I’ll do it.”

So that’s how Wiley is going to approach it.

“I want to get comfortable,” he said, “[and] I want to learn the brand and style of football that they play here in Kansas City. I want to be able to do that to the best of my ability.”

Wiley has plenty of experience in making these kinds of adjustments. After logging just a dozen starts (and 19 receptions for 248 yards) over three seasons with the Longhorns, Wiley transferred to TCU in 2022. Moving three hours to the north proved fruitful.

“There were a lot of changes going on at Texas when I was there,” he recalled. “Three different offensive coordinators, three different position coaches [and] two head coaches; it was something different every year. I wanted to just get a fresh start — [to] go find some stability somewhere — and I happened to find it at TCU.”

Wiley earned first-team All-Big 12 honors with TCU in 2023, following a senior season in which he started all 12 games and recorded 47 receptions for 520 yards and eight touchdowns.

So what Wiley is now doing in Kansas City is familiar to him.

“I’ve had to learn five different offenses while I was in college,” he remarked, “so this is my sixth one in six years. It’s part of my normal routine now, I guess — so I don’t think I’ll have much trouble with it.”

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

He believes his experience is helping him master one of the NFL’s most complex offensive schemes.

“I would say it’s helped a lot just learning the playbook — especially in this offense,” said Wiley. “Everybody is expected to know every position. Just being able to learn that — and kind of figure out the concepts and everything like that — I would say it’s helped a lot.”

Over the last decade, the Chiefs’ offense has revolved around Kelce’s ever-evolving role. While no one expects Wiley will immediately reach the future Hall of Fame tight end’s level, the rookie understands how valuable he can be to his new team.

“My favorite thing about [being a] tight end is [that] I feel like it’s — aside from the quarterback — the most essential part of your offense,” he declared. “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 — [that] weight — on my shoulders a little bit. I like being able to prove to myself — and to everybody else — that I’m completely capable of doing it.”