The one position unit that is virtually a carbon copy of last season is the Kansas City Chiefs tight end room. Travis Kelce embarks on year 14 and his age-37 season, as hungry as ever to win, but certainly not the guy he was even four years ago.
Noah Gray enters the most important football season of his life after a disastrous 2025 performance that saw the five-year veteran catch just 56.8% of his targets for under 200 yards, without finding the end zone.
Third-year man Jared Wiley has accomplished little more than a turtle on a professional football field, as well as rookie UDFA Jake Briningstool, whose 6'6", 240 lb frame impressed throughout training camp, but has lots of room to improve, well, everywhere.
While the tight end room certainly won't sink the team, at least not as long as the Chiefs employ the future first-ballot Hall of Fame Kelce, it's a unit that does not possess a lot of versatile talent or blocking prowess in the run game. Nevertheless, there will be production at varying levels.
Travis Kelce is still Patrick Mahomes' favorite target and should be treated as such, but the players behind him leave much to be desired
Travis Kelce's Projected 2026 Statline - 113 Targets 81 Receptions 883 Receiving Yards 7 TDs 1 Fumble
For the truly great ones, a career sometimes ends, not due to a massive drop-off in talent or ability, but because of age. For Kelce, it seems, even at his older age, he'll always be able to get himself open enough to punish a defense over the middle of the field.
He doesn't miss games, and while his yards-after-catch ability that was once elite, only shows up in spurts, the connection he has with Mahomes, as well as the passing game, for better or for worse, still being centered around him, he'll get his targets, and Kelce will do the best he can with them at an effective enough level.
Noah Gray's Projected 2026 Statline - 41 Targets 25 Receptions 237 Receiving Yards 2 TDs 0 Fumbles
I don't expect Gray to have some huge renaissance year. But he can't possibly be worse than what he put on tape last season. I do expect his catch percentage to return to at least a number easier to stomach, and I think Gray makes one or two plays a game that help the team en route to wins.
One thing is for certain, though. Gray faces a possible release next offseason, as the team can save $5.5 million by doing so. And a stat line of less than 250 yards on well-below-average blocking at his smaller 240 lb frame does not warrant the Chiefs keeping him on the roster past this year.
Jake Briningstool's Projected 2026 Statline - 9 Targets 6 Receptions 52 Receiving Yards 1 TD 0 Fumbles
Jared Wiley's Projected 2026 Statline - 4 Targets 2 Receptions 12 Receiving Yards 0 TDs 0 Fumbles
Sure, I threw in a touchdown catch for the young Briningstool. Why not. It'd be nice for him to emerge as a potential contributor in 2027 and beyond. As for Wiley, I have no past evidence for me to believe he'll do anything of note this season. I would expect Briningstool to pass him up on the depth chart fairly soon.
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