One of the earliest standout rookies during the offseason program for the Kansas City Chiefs has been fifth-round draft pick Noah Gray.
He’s impressed Chiefs HC Andy Reid and built a repertoire with star QB Patrick Mahomes, combining for a number of standout moments during team drills at practice. The former Duke Blue Devil isn’t taking much credit for his offseason success, though. He first noted that having Organized Team Activities (OTAs) made all the difference in the world — a luxury that last year’s rookies didn’t have.
“OTAs was really a blessing for us,” Gray told reporters on Saturday. “I don’t know how the rookies last year did it, so I think we’ve got to give a lot of credit to those guys who are sophomores now in the league. But going through OTAs really helped just from a knowledge standpoint, just understanding the basic concepts that this offense asks you to know. So, it was definitely a huge help from that perspective.”
On top of acquiring all that extra knowledge at OTAs, Gray credits his teammates with helping his early development. To this point, the Chiefs have mostly engaged in what Andy Reid describes as “passing camps.” Meaning, the team hasn’t yet worked on blocking. That’s an area where Gray knows he’ll need improvements. He’ll continue leaning on his peers in those moments.
“What I need to work on, just everything,” Gray said. “Out here today there were a lot of things that in OTAs I was asked to work on that I need to keep building on. Route-running, blocking—we haven’t put pads on yet but when blocking comes that’s going to be something that’s going to need to continue to progress. But there are a lot of things in the route-running game that I still need to get better at. I’m still asking questions. Jody (Fortson) has been phenomenal, when Trav (Kelce) gets back he’s been a great teacher and mentor, and really all the other tight ends like Nick (Keizer), all those other guys, Evan (Baylis) and Blake (Bell), they’re just really a blessing to be teammates and be a part of. So, really a credit to those guys for helping me progress along this journey.”
Gray didn’t get a chance to go to Travis Kelce’s inaugural Tight End University Summit this offseason because he was hosting a football camp of his own. The thing is, Gray gets a chance to get on the field and work with Kelce often in practice. The rookie isn’t taking that fact for granted and is doing his best to gain as much knowledge from the veteran as possible.
“It’s tremendous. Like I said on draft day, I don’t think there’s anywhere else I’d rather be in the country,” Gray said. “To be able to learn under Travis Kelce, one of the best tight ends in the league, right now it’s a blessing. To come out here and to be able to gain that knowledge from him and to learn from him every day and to be able to visualize and watch him on the field, that’s been something that’s been extremely key to me coming out and being able to execute my assignment. Even guys like Blake, guys like Nick, those guys have been in the system and they’ve been tremendous in helping me out with my development and just being able to come out here and execute what I need to do.”
Even with the early success that he’s seen, Gray is doing his best not to get a big head. Mahomes had some high praise for the rookie tight end back in OTAs.
“Noah has been really good,” Mahomes said during OTAs. “I think he has a veteran-type skill set where he knows how to get himself open even if it’s not exactly what the play is designed to do. He knows how to get his eyes back and how to get on the quarterback’s timing.”
Gray’s response to these comments was quite humble and more reminiscent of something you’d hear from a 10-year veteran.
“It’s a blessing that he thinks that of me, but I also understand that I need to come out here and keep grinding, keep hitting the playbook and keep practicing hard,” Gray said. “From a mentality standpoint, it just means that I need to keep doing the things that I know that I can do. It’s great that a teammate thinks that of me, but to be able to come out here and be the best teammate that I can be, that’s what means the most to me.”
No matter the success that Gray finds at training camp over the next several weeks, he won’t be satisfied with it. He’ll keep going, doing what he’s already done to improve and stand out early on in the offseason program. He’ll be the best teammate that he can be and he’ll keep leaning on the tight end room for support and knowledge.
[listicle id=95127]