Kansas City Chiefs: Tight end is a major need in 2018 NFL Draft

The Kansas City Chiefs are fortunate to have one of the best tight ends in the game in Travis Kelce. Behind Kelce, however, there is very little to be excited about.

The Kansas City Chiefs were pretty luck to go from having Tony Gonzalez for over a decade to now having Travis Kelce for five years plus the next three (at least). As great as it is to have a star tight end like Kelce at their disposal, there is no one worth talking about behind him on the depth chart.

As of right now, the Chiefs have just three tight ends on their 53-man roster. Kelce is obviously one of them and the other two are Demetrius Harris and Orson Charles. Do either of those names fire you up at all? Do either of those names make you confident in case Kelce were to miss time (like he did in the playoff game)?

The answer to both of those questions is NO! Chiefs fans have seen enough of the Demetrius Harris experiment and it’s time for that to end. The former college basketball player turned NFL tight end (something Andy Reid has shown he likes to toy with) hasn’t amounted to anything while in Kansas City, so why are we still playing around with the idea that he could become something great?

In now four seasons with the KC Chiefs, Harris has amassed just 45 receptions for 441 yards and three touchdowns. On top of his limited production, he’s been Sir Drops a Lot during his time as a pro football player and I’m tired of watching it.

Orson Charles is the other tight end behind Kelce and he had just two receptions last year. We all knew he wouldn’t really do much though, being the third tight end on the depth chart plus he was a late season addition after Ross Travis was let go (no one should be wearing jersey number 88).

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The Kansas City Chiefs HAVE to get some reliable depth behind Travis Kelce this season and the best way to do that is through the 2018 NFL Draft. Obviously the biggest need for the Chiefs is at the pass rush spot, but maybe as early as the third round (with their second selection in round three, so third total pick) could be when the Chiefs lock onto a tight end.

I’d suggest free agency as a potential way to bring on a tight end, but the market isn’t all that impressive. Sure there are guys like Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates, but the Chiefs don’t need guys like that. They just need some depth pieces because Travis Kelce is obviously the unquestioned starter at that position.

Mike Gesicki (Penn State), Hayden Hurst (South Carolina), Dallas Goedert (South Dakota State), Ian Thomas (Indiana), and Dalton Schultz (Stanford) are the top five tight ends, according to NFL.com’s Draft Tracker. Tight ends tend to not be as hot of a commodity come draft day, so the Kansas City Chiefs could perhaps get one of those five players in the third round (or even later).

Chiefs Kingdom is ready for the Demetrius Harris project to be finished with. It’s time for the Chiefs to bring on a reliable backup behind Travis Kelce and Harris is not the answer to fill that role.

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