The Chiefs’ decision to release wide receiver Jeremy Maclin leaves them with a void to fill at wide receiver that goes beyond the field.
Maclin was the veteran leader of a group that is now made up players of younger than 25. One member of that group, Tyreek Hill, said that there’s no question about who will now take the leadership mantle.
Hill said Chris Conley is “definitely talking more in the meeting room” and that “it’s all on him now” that Maclin has left the team. Conley said that lessons he learned from Maclin about professionalism will guide him in that new role.
“The way that you’re a good leader is that you have to be a good follower first,” Conley said, via ESPN.com. “You have to be a good listener and I got a lot of time just being able to sit back and watch [Maclin] and listen. I think that’s the way you help these younger guys is you just pay attention. It’s not necessarily being a rah-rah guy every day. Sometimes it’s coming out here, seeing what they do, waiting to the end of practice and talking to them about what they’ve got to get better at.”
Conley will also be asked to do more on the field and his ability to handle his duties on both fronts is going to have a big impact on how things play out for the Chiefs after they opted to drop Maclin at this point in the offseason.