While the addition of quarterback Nick Foles has gotten most of the publicity, the acquisition of receiver Chris Conley is one that could bring a huge payoff, too. And though there are several months to go before the season begins, many fans have been left wondering where the veteran could fit within the Jags’ receiving corps.
Well, when looking at the Jags’ current group of wide outs, Conley is more experienced than most of the Jags’ young players with the exception of Marqise Lee, who has a year of experience over him. In my opinion, that could indicate that the Jags may view him as a starter. That may especially be the case when considering how familiar he is with Foles and the system that John DeFilippo will using this season.
As for where the Jags could play him, we could see Conley all over the place from split end (X), to flanker (Z), to the slot (H) as Locked on Jags editor Zach Goodall points out above. However, in my opinion, he might predominantly see snaps at split end for the simple fact that the Jags have said they view DJ Chark as a player who could be what Alshon Jeffery was for Foles in Philadelphia. Conley is a player with identical size and skills, but he’s simply more experienced than Chark.
On the other hand, if Chark balls out as he did last offseason, it could be him starting at split end which would make the slot an interesting fit. The reason for that is Dede Westbrook’s 2018 emergence, which was impressive enough to pencil him in as one of the Jags’ top-2 receivers this year.
In a nutshell, it appears Conley is competition for Chark and a veteran presence for the youngster to learn from. It’s certainly going to make training camp and offseason training activities that much more interesting as the Jags appear to be constructing a more balanced attack than in years past.
