Chiefs training camp preview: What we know about the backup tight ends
· Yahoo Sports
In less than two weeks, there will be a Kansas City Chiefs training camp practice to react to!
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On Wednesday, July 29, the Chiefs will hold a full-team practice to an exclusive crowd of season-ticket holders. The following day will be the team’s first public practice.
To get ready for camp, let’s take a look at the players competing for the roles in the offense at tight end, working around 36-year-old Kelce’s unique usage.
Kansas City is familiar with the current second tight end, Noah Gray, as he enters his sixth season with the team, so let’s focus on the rest of the group.
It’s an unknown bunch that will get plenty of opportunity to earn a roster spot this preseason. An impressive performance with a new offensive coaching staff could land one of these players as high as No. 2 on the depth chart.
Jared Wiley
2024 – 2025: Two catches, 11 receiving yards, 122 offensive snaps and 34 special teams snaps
After tearing his ACL midway through his rookie year, Wiley was sidelined as a game-day inactive in 2025 until Thanksgiving Day, when he filled in for a concussed Noah Gray against the Dallas Cowboys and recording his only reception of the year: a short throw in the flat to convert fourth down.
When he was active, Wiley was a more consistent presence on offense as a rookie — and a lesser factor on special teams. If that was any indication of the team’s belief in him, it was washed away this offseason when the front office ignored the tight end position in free agency and the draft.
As a former fourth-round pick, now nearly two years removed from the knee injury, there is reason to believe what the Chiefs’ actions suggest about the anticipation of his impact this year. He showed vertical-route playmaking at TCU; spectators should expect to start seeing more of that in a Chiefs uniform this training camp and preseason.
Jake Briningstool
2025: Suffered season-ending hamstring injury during the first week of training camp
2021 – 2024 at Clemson: 127 receptions, 1,380 yards and 17 touchdowns
During his final year at Clemson, Briningstool showcased receiver abilities by aligning in the slot (373 snaps) or out wide (33) for 57% of his offensive snaps. He lined up as a slot receiver more often than he was inline (294). The Tigers’ offense used Briningstool’s athletic advantage to get the ball in his hands quickly, utilizing him on short passes around the line of scrimmage more often than downfield.
In a season in which he scored a career-high seven touchdowns, Briningstool also dropped a career-high four passes, per Pro Football Focus. It’s one of the only blemishes on Briningstool’s receiving resume; his strengths center around pass catching, and not as a point-of-attack blocker, so keep an eye on him when the ball is in his hands.
Tre Watson
2025:Practice squad
2021 – 2023 at Fresno State, then Texas A&M in 2024: 77 catches, 872 yards and five touchdowns
Last summer, after signing as an undrafted free agent, Watson began training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and missed roughly a week of practices. He rebounded to play in every preseason game, but only saw two passes thrown his way, catching one for four yards.
We didn’t learn much about the 6-feet-4-inch tall, 250-pound tight end, whose 40-yard dash time (4.68 seconds), vertical leap (35 inches) and broad jump (10 feet 4 inches) graded as “great” in his pre-draft “Relative Athletic Score.“ We have to look back to his college days to have a better understanding of his usage.
At Texas A&M, Watson lined up inline (361 snaps) on 67% of his offensive snaps, but the Aggies still favored another tight end to lead the position in run-blocking opportunities.
For what it’s worth, a pre-draft “scout note” from DraftScout.comreferred to him as a “good blocker.”
With a lacking production profile in college compared to Briningstool (and the next player on this list to a lesser degree), Watson needs to truly standout this summer if he’s eyeing the 53-man roster, whether it’s pass catching, blocking or special teams play.
Rookie John Michael Gyllenborg
2022 – 2025 at Wyoming: 80 catches, 1,023 yards and seven touchdowns
The native of Kansas City and graduate of Rockhurst High School is the team’s only newcomer to the position this season, although the team hosted another tight end for a successful tryout during OTAs and signed him for camp. More on that shortly.
John Michael Gyllenborg has the athletic prowess to be a great YAC producer quickly if he can make the roster. This is the kind of run-after-catch that propels people to make the active roster. pic.twitter.com/0kB4h8jo92
— Caleb James (@CJScoobs) May 16, 2026
Gyllenborg is the most impressive athlete of this list based on pre-draft athletic testing, qualifying as “elite” in his speed and explosion results. When you watch him play at Wyoming, it’s easy to see that speed, especially with the ball in his hands. He reaches an impressive gear in the open field that looks like a potential differentiator in this group.
Despite lining up inline on nearly 70% of his snaps in 2025, blocking on 52% of all plays he was involved in, Gyllenborg’s run blocking in the trenches is not a calling card of his.
Mason Pline
2023 at Furman: 28 catches, 199 yards and three touchdowns
2019 – 2023: Football and basketball player at NCAA Division II Ferris State University
Pline is the most fascinating of this bunch, partially due to how little we know about him while he stands over 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs between 250 and 260 pounds, but mainly because he has been in the NFL for two seasons, hanging out on the practice squads of the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints before the latter waived him in May.
That time for Pline to theoretically improve at the sport he was assumedly sacrificing time to basketball for is significant, especially when reading the opening sentence of NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein’s overview from the pre-draft process.
Hearing Pline is a former basketball player might initially cause evaluators’ ears to perk up, but he fails to overwhelm coverages with athleticism and above-the-rim ball skills.
Who do you think will be the team’s second, third and potentially fourth tight end this year? Let us know in the comments.