Is Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce the Best Tight End to Ever Play the Game of Football?
Much of the post-Super Bowl conversation has been directed at Patrick Mahomes and whether or not he is the greatest quarterback to play. Patrick Mahomes is 28 years old and is on a trajectory to surpass Tom Brady in many of his historic categories. While those conversations carry on one might start to drift that conversation towards another position. Tight End.
Travis Kelce’s Legacy
Travis Kelce entered the league in 2013, only playing for the Chiefs in one game and recording no statistics. He truly burst onto the scene in 2014 recording 67 receptions, 862 yards, and 5 touchdowns. He went on a historic run starting in 2016 by having 7 consecutive seasons with 1,000 or more. That record only ended this past season when he decided to sit the last game of the season to preserve his health.
*A statistical note. There have been 32 total seasons of Tight Ends having over a thousand yards. Travis Kelce has 7 of them. Roughly 22% of the total.
Travis has had 8 of his 9 seasons recorded 5 touchdowns or more. His “best” season was in 2020 when he recorded the most ever yards by a tight end in a single season, 1,416 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Kansas City Chiefs also went on to win the Super Bowl that year against the 49ers.
Travis Kelce vs. Rob Gronkowski
There is only one name that should be allowed in the conversation for great Playoff Tight Ends, Rob Gronkowski. To the surprise of the public Travis Kelce is in the neighborhood of Gronk. Not just in the neighborhood, but surpassed him in many categories.
Playoffs
As it currently stands both Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski have played in the same amount of playoff games. The stats start to wane on the side of Kelce, with what some would assume to be at least one more year to increase those numbers.
Receiving is only a small part though. Gronk rewrote the game by blocking tight ends.
“Gronkowski also averaged 23 run-blocking snaps per game to go along with five pass-blocking snaps, whereas Kelce has averaged 18 and two, respectively. Moreover, for his career, Gronkowski was asked to block on 47.2% of his offensive snaps, with Kelce thus far doing so on 36.4%.
Kelce’s career-high for pass-blocking snaps is 59, which he set in 2015. Gronkowski had seven seasons in which he saw at least 59 pass-blocking snaps. Kelce’s career-high for run-blocking snaps is 359; Gronkowski beat that number four times, including 429 in 2011, a season.” These stats were totaled from the regular season and playoff, and all of this according to NESN.com.
At the end of the day, they both currently stand at 3 Super Bowls, which some would say is the most important statistic.
Regular Season
Looking at the rest of the stats, many people would be surprised at how they align in some areas.
Travis Kelce |
Rob Gronkowski |
11 Years in the NFL
159 Games 11,328 Yards 74 Touchdowns 9 Pro Bowls 4 All-Pros |
11 Years in the NFL 143 Games 9,286 Yards 92 Touchdowns 5 Pro Bowls 4 All-Pros |
Is Travis Kelce the GOAT?
Many tight ends deserve to be within this conversation, not because of stats alone, but how they have changed the game. Mike Ditka, Shannon Sharpe, Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow. The list can go on for days.
Kelce has the highest output for yards in a season (as previously mentioned). He sits 4th all-time in total yards. Tony Gonzalez currently sits atop that list with 15, 127 yards. Kelce also sits 4th all-time in receptions for tight ends. Gonzalez is to no surprise atop of that list as well (1,325 receptions). Tony Gonzalez has also played 111 more games than Kelce.
Longevity should be a part of the conversation, and Tony did it for a very long time, so we shall see how long Kelce can keep. Many overlook Tony Gonzalez, mostly due to his lack of playoff numbers, but should be mentioned.
Kansas City’s Run
Travis Kelce, as well as Andy Reid, have come out and already said that they will not retire this offseason. Many things need to be decided with the Kansas City Chiefs, but if those two do decide to come back, KC fans will sleep much easier.
Dynasty talk should be at the forefront of the Chiefs narrative. Many players, coaches, and executives have already mentioned their desire to go after a 3-peat and win a 3rd consecutive championship. Having 3 Super Bowl victories within the last 4 years is an unbelievable accomplishment, and they won back-to-back for the first time in 19 years in the NFL. The accolades continue to build for this historic franchise. It will be fun to see how it continues, and how Travis Kelce plays a role in that run.
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