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Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce among all-time best tight ends

By Cullen Jekel

Jan 17, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) leaps in for a touchdown as Cleveland Browns free safety Andrew Sendejo (23) and strong safety Karl Joseph (42) defend during the AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) leaps in for a touchdown as Cleveland Browns free safety Andrew Sendejo (23) and strong safety Karl Joseph (42) defend during the AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tony Gonzalez #88 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Tony Gonzalez #88 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is on pace to be the best ever at his position.

Last weekend, Travis Kelce put on yet another show as he helped the Kansas City Chiefs topple the Cleveland Browns 22-17 in the AFC Divisional Round. For the day, he finished with eight receptions and 109 yards plus a touchdown reception that put the Chiefs up 13-3.

And what a smooth catch-and-run from 20 yards out it was:

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1350906650757128194

Here’s another look, this time focusing on Kelce making Cleveland corner Denzel Ward fall before the reception:

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1350907282696056836

Really, this was just another day at the office for Kelce. He finished the regular season with 105 receptions, 1,416 receiving yards, and 11 touchdown receptions. Per game (the 15 he played, that is), he averaged exactly seven receptions for 94.4 yards and 0.69 touchdown receptions.

Travis Kelce is on his way to becoming the best tight end in the history of the NFL if he’s not already.

With his 1,400 plus receiving yards, he broke George Kittle’s (more on him in a bit) record for receiving yards by a tight in a single season.

With his 105 receptions, he also became the first–the first!–ever tight end in the league’s long history to post at least seasons with at least 100 receptions.

And he was three receptions away from accomplishing that feat last season.

He’s also the first tight end to post five consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 yards receiving.

Think about this for a second: for how amazing his stats are, consider how much gaudier they’d be had he not missed his entire rookie season due to injury. He didn’t really break into the league until he was 25. His first 1,000-yard season happened when he was 26. His first 100-reception season happened when he was 29. The dude got a late start and is still bashing records.

Before making more direct comparisons between Kelce and his contenders for best tight end ever, let’s first meet those contestants, including, of course, ex-Chief Tony Gonzalez.

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