Another year, another season Travis Kelce is the #1 tight end in the NFL. For six straight seasons he’s put up over 1,000 receiving yards, totaling 7,269 yards and 47 receiving touchdowns in that span.
He is as reliable as they come, and has broken multiple tight end records, but this season things could be different. Kansas City traded away Patrick Mahomes’ top target in Tyreek Hill, replacing him with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore.
The new receiving corps makes immediately makes Kelce the #1 receiver on the team. That means he could see an insane number of targets and he’ll break his own receiving yards record, or it means opposing defenses will treat him as the #1 target and he will get worn down from all the work, opening the door for injury.
Kelce played in 16 games during the 2021 season, and finished with 135 targets (22.3% target share), 92 receptions, 1,125 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns. He was the #2 tight end behind Baltimore’s Mark Andrews.
Among tight ends, Kelce is elite in almost every fantasy metric. He’s been top three in touchdowns for five of the last six years, his snap share is 82.1%, he isn’t used much as a pass blocker, he lines up at WR frequently (71.4% of KC pass plays), and he leads tight ends in missed tackles (19).
Health Analysis – Kelce continues to be one of the most durable tight ends, and he comes with huge upside. He has played in at least 15 games in each season since 2014. Kelce should without a doubt be the first tight end drafted, and he comes with a Low Injury Risk (11%) and Peak Health Performance Factor (94%).
REC | YDS | TD | REC/G | YDS/R | YDS/G |
92 | 1125 | 9 | 5.8 | 12.2 | 70.3 |