Christian Conley (born October 25, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Georgia. He was selected in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs and has played in the NFL for the Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, and Tennessee Titans. He holds the NFL Combine record for the highest vertical leap of 45 inches.
College career
Conley arrived at Georgia a semester early in January 2011 and played four years under head coach Mark Richt before graduating and entering the 2015 NFL Draft. He finished his freshman season with 16 receptions for 288 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in 11 games. In 2012, Conley had 20 receptions for 342 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. He returned for his junior season in 2013 and caught a career-high 45 passes for 651 receiving yards and was limited to four touchdown receptions in 11 games. His final year at Georgia was in 2014, where he finished with 36 receptions for 657 receiving yards and a career-high eight touchdown receptions.
College statistics
Professional career
On January 17, 2015, Conley caught two passes for 45 yards in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Carson, California and was a part of Mike Martz's National team that defeated the American team 17–0. Conley was one of 47 collegiate wide receivers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had an impressive performance and tied for third among wide receivers in the 40-yard dash and finished fourth among them in the bench press. His broad jump was best among his position group with the second closest being Auburn's Sammie Coates (10'9"). On March 18, 2015, he attended Georgia's pro day, along with Todd Gurley, Amarlo Herrera, Damian Swann, Ramik Wilson, and 13 other prospects. Team representatives and scouts from 25 NFL teams attended, that included Tennessee Titans' head coach Ken Whisenhunt, as Conley opted to stand on his combine numbers and only perform positional drills. Throughout the draft process, he met with a few teams for private workouts and meetings, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Cleveland Browns. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Conley was projected to be a third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 13th best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
Kansas City Chiefs (first stint) The Kansas City Chiefs selected Conley in the third round (76th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the 12th wide receiver selected in 2015.
2015
On May 14, 2015, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Conley to a four-year, $3.12 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $712,434.
Throughout his first training camp, Conley competed against De'Anthony Thomas, Jason Avant, Frankie Hammond, and Albert Wilson for the No. 2 wide receiver role. Conley suffered an injury during training camp after having a strong start in OTA's. Head coach Andy Reid named Conley the fifth wide receiver on the depth chart, behind Jeremy Maclin, Albert Wilson, Jason Avant, and De'Anthony Thomas.
He made his professional regular season debut in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opening 27–20 victory over the Houston Texans. On September 28, 2015, Conley caught his first career reception on a 16-yard pass by Alex Smith before being tackled by Green Bay Packers' safety Haha Clinton-Dix in the fourth quarter of a 38–28 loss. The following week, he earned his first career start after Albert Wilson was unable to play due to a recurring shoulder injury. Conley finished the 36–21 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals with two receptions for 53 yards. On October 25, 2015, Conley caught a season-high six passes for 63 receiving yards and a touchdown during the Chiefs' 23–13 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He made his first career touchdown reception on a six-yard pass from Alex Smith in the fourth quarter to seal the Chiefs' victory. He finished his rookie season in with 17 receptions for 199 receiving yards and one touchdown in 16 games and five starts.
The Kansas City Chiefs finished second in the AFC West with an 11–5 record and received a playoff berth as a wildcard team. On January 9, 2016, Conley played in his first career playoff game and caught one pass for a nine-yard touchdown during the Chiefs' 30–0 AFC Wildcard victory over the Houston Texans. The following game, Conley caught five passes for 33 yards as the Kansas City Chiefs lost 27–20 to the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional playoff game.