Travis Kelce Is The Best Tight End In Football

There are three things that everybody knows about Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The main thing, however, is that he's the best tight end in football.

There are three things that everybody knows about Travis Kelce.

1) Travis Kelce likes to party. From his antics at the Super Bowl victory parade to his dance moves to his own reality show, the dude likes to have a good time and bring everyone else along for the ride.

2) Travis Kelce had a slow start to his career, especially considering his current production. From missing his rookie season with an injury to losing his temper multiple times during games, he didn’t record his first 1,000-yard season until he was 27 years old. Here is a list of other notable tight ends’ ages for their first 1,000-yard season:

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3) Travis Kelce is the best tight end in football.

With all due respect to the genial run-blocking savant George Kittle, Travis Kelce is the best player in the league at his position. This past season, Kelce led the NFL in receptions by a tight end with 97 (which was seven more than second place), and receiving yards by a tight end with 1,229 (which was 84 more yards than second place). He was tied for fourth among tight ends with six total touchdowns, which was actually his lowest touchdown output since 2016.

In the 2019 postseason, Kelce began with a dominant game against the Houston Texans, racking up 10 catches for 134 yards and three scores, coming in 11 yards shy of Rob Gronkowski’s postseason record for fantasy points by a tight end. (Gronk had 10/145/3 in a 2012 blowout win over Denver.) Capping his year with a touchdown catch during the Super Bowl comeback, Kelce has firmly established himself as the game’s most dangerous tight end.

When it comes to his career trajectory, things are still looking up for Zeus. He currently ranks ninth among all tight ends in NFL history with 6,465 receiving yards, 12th in receptions with 507, and 14th in touchdowns with 38. But when you look at tight ends through 96 career games played, his 507 receptions rank first and his 6,465 yards rank second to Rob Gronkowski’s 6678.

There is nothing groundbreaking about any of these revelations. The Chiefs rely on the 30-year-old for leadership as much as production these days, which is a stark contrast to his early days of temper tantrums. But Kelce has grown up quite a bit in his seven seasons with the Chiefs, and he just may have grown into a GOAT in the process.


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Taylor Witt
TAYLOR WITT

Taylor Witt is an alumnus of The University of Kansas, where he majored in sports journalism. Taylor previously worked for 610 Sports Radio and the Lawrence Journal-World and is now a contributor for Arrowhead Report on SI.com and co-host of the It's Always Sunny in Chiefs Kingdom podcast at iasick.com. Follow Taylor on Twitter @ Taylor_Witt.