In 2013, Tyler Bray decided to leave the University of Tennessee and declare for the draft after his junior year. He went undrafted due to being considered by many teams to be immature. The Kansas City Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent. The former Volunteer played in 3 out of the 4 preseason games for the Chiefs in 2013. His final game of that preseason was against the Green Bay Packers and Bray played pretty well. The former Tennessee standout completed 14 of 25 passes for 169 yards, 3 touchdowns and only one interception. However, that was just a preseason game.
It’s Time to Move on From Tyler Bray
Since that preseason game Bray has spent most of his career injured. He spent the 2014 season on Injured Reserve. In 2015 the California native tore his ACL playing pickup basketball and was put on the Non-Football Injury list for all of the season. Kansas City currently has five quarterbacks on their roster. Tyler Bray was injured in the first preseason game of the 2016 season as well. Bray suffered a chip fracture in his spine and has no timetable set for when he can return.
This doesn’t look good for the Chiefs third string quarterback, especially after they signed Nick Foles on August 3rd. Foles is considered very similar to Bray as they are both 6’6″ quarterbacks that can throw the deep ball well. However, Foles has more experience than Bray since he has started for two different NFL teams. Foles also has experience in Andy Reid’s system. In 2012 when Reid was coaching the Philadelphia Eagles they drafted Foles in the third round. The former Arizona Wildcat has gone on to throw for 8,805 yards, 53 touchdowns to 27 interceptions. His current passer rating is 87.3.
Further Competition
Not only does Bray have to compete with Foles but there is also competition from Aaron Murray and Kevin Hogan. Aaron Murray was selected by the Chiefs in the 5th round of the 2014 NFL Draft. While Murray doesn’t have the height of the other quarterbacks, the former University of Georgia threw for the most yards in SEC history with 13,166. A lot of Chiefs fans feel like he could be the Quarterback of the Future for the Chiefs. However the only action that he has seen has come in the preseason as he was third string last season.
In the 2015 draft the Chiefs decided to go quarterback again in the fifth round and select Kevin Hogan out of Stanford. The former Stanford standout needs some work on his football mechanics but a coach like Reid will work on those fundamentals and mold him into a better quarterback. Alex Smith is the definitive starter for the Chiefs as of right now. Although, all it took for Smith to lose his job with the San Francisco 49ers was a concussion.
Coaches like to go with the hot hand and if the number two guy steps up who knows what can happen. The Chiefs have long been looking for a quarterback that they drafted to step up and take over. Unfortunately the Chiefs have a terrible history of quarterbacks that they have drafted. There is hope that a player like Tyler Bray would step up and finally break this streak. It appears unlikely and as the injuries pile up for him it’s time for Kansas City to look elsewhere. There is potential with Murray and Hogan but Bray’s time should be over with.
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