Travis Kelce News

Travis Kelce

30-Year-Old Tight EndTE

Kansas City Chiefs

2019 Receiving Stats

REC

YDS

541

AVG

14.2

TAR

2019 Receiving Projections

REC

YDS

AVG

TAR

Unlock Our Projections

2019 Fantasy Outlook

It might seem like Rob Gronkowski's retirement promoted Kelce to the top of the tight end class, but Kansas City's version of No. 87 was already there. Kelce rode shotgun on Patrick Mahomes' MVP season, bumping most of his counting stats and efficiency ones too. He's now ranked first, second and first in TE fantasy points the last three years. Mahomes was able to prioritize Kelce around the goal line in a way that Alex Smith never would. Kelce had just 16 targets inside the 10-yard line entering last year, then collected 12 - third in the league and most among tight ends - for 2018 alone. Perhaps Kelce will be a little easier to mark with Tyreek Hill likely out of the picture, but if defenses had any clue how to stop the 29-year-old tight end we probably would have seen it by now. No one has cracked this matrix. Injuries are a tricky thing to predict for anyone, especially those at tight end, the ultimate collision position. That said, credit Kelce for playing in 79 of 80 games the last five years. He had a clean-up ankle surgery in early March, missing the offseason program before gaining clearance for the start of training camp. Selecting a vanity tight end isn't for everyone - some fantasy owners don't want to play catch-up at the other positions. But with the first tight end tier a tiny and exclusive group, it's possible margin analysis could push you to an early Kelce pick. It seems easier to get lucky at the other positions than it is to strike gold at tight end. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

#14.66

ADP

Overall

Tight End

Add To Watchlist

Bye Week 12

Height 6'5"

Weight 260

DOB 10/5/1989

College Cincinnati

Drafted 3rd Rd 2013 #63 Overall

Productive despite Mahomes injury

TEKansas City Chiefs

October 17, 2019

Kelce secured six of eight targets for 44 yards in the Chiefs' 30-6 win over the Broncos on Thursday.

ANALYSIS
Kelce paced the Chiefs in receptions and checked in second to Tyreek Hill in receiving yardage on a night when the Chiefs played without Patrick Mahomes (knee) from the 10-minute mark of the second quarter onward. The star tight end should continue logging plenty of targets in Mahomes' absence, but many of them are likely to be of the lower-upside variety he saw Thursday, given the considerable difference in arm strength between Mahomes and backup Matt Moore. Kelce now has at least six grabs in four of the last six games and will look to extend that strong stretch against the Packers in Week 8, a week from Sunday.

Read More News

NFL Stats

Loading NFL Stats...

Fantasy/Red Zone Stats

See red zone opportunities inside the 20, 10 and 5-yard lines along with the percentage of time they converted the opportunity into a touchdown.

Loading Fantasy/Red Zone Stats...

Advanced NFL Stats

How do Travis Kelce's 2019 advanced stats compare to other tight ends?

This section compares his advanced stats with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average. The longer the bar, the better it is for the player.

Air Yards Per Game

84.7

Air Yards Per Snap

1.22

% Team Air Yards

22.8%

% Team Targets

22.0%

Avg Depth of Target

10.4 Yds

Catch Rate

65.3%

Drop Rate

12.2%

Avg Yds After Catch

5.7

Loading Advanced NFL Stats...

NFL Game Log

Calculate Stats Over Time

Just click on any two dates.

Scoring

Standard

PPR

Half PPR

FanDuel

DraftKings

Yahoo DFS

Loading NFL Game Log...

Snap Distribution / Depth Chart

Chiefs 2019 TE Snap Distribution See more data like this

T.Travis Kelce

B.Blake Bell

D.Deon Yelder

% of Team Snaps

415

191

Loading Weekly Snap Counts...

#1 TE

Chiefs

View Full Depth Chart

How often does Travis Kelce run a route when on the field for a pass play?

This data will let you see how Travis Kelce and the other tight ends for the Chiefs are being used. Some tight ends may have a lot of snaps, but they're not that useful for fantasy purposes because they're not actually running routes. This data will help you see when this is the case.

Travis Kelce

221 routes 57 targets

← More Blocking

% Routes Run

More Receiving →

87%

Deon Yelder

4 routes 2 targets

Blake Bell

57 routes 5 targets

Receiving Alignment Breakdown

See where Travis Kelce lined up on the field and how he performed at each spot.

Detailed

Grouped

Side

Loading Alignment Breakdown...

Loading Team Alignment Breakdown...

This Week's Opposing Pass Defense

How does the Broncos pass defense compare to other NFL teams this season?

The bars represents the team's percentile rank (based on QB Rating Against). The longer the bar, the better their pass defense is.

@ Broncos

Thursday, Oct 17th at 8:20PM

Overall QB Rating Against

64.7

Cornerbacks

65.0

Safeties

50.4

Linebackers

92.2

Loading Opponent Pass Defense Stats...

2019 Travis Kelce Split Stats

Loading NFL Split Stats...

Measurables Review View College Player Page

How do Travis Kelce's measurables compare to other tight ends?

This section compares his draft workout metrics with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average.

* The 40-Yard Dash, Shuttle Time, Cone Drill, Vertical Jump, and Broad Jump metrics are from his Pro Day. All others are from the NFL Combine.

Height

6' 5"

Weight

260 lbs

40-Yard Dash*

4.61 sec

Shuttle Time*

4.42 sec

Cone Drill*

7.09 sec

Vertical Jump*

35.0 in

Broad Jump*

124 in

Hand Length

9.63 in

Arm Length

33.75 in

Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Travis Kelce

Exploiting the Matchups: Week 7 Start/Sit

Yesterday

Jerry Donabedian breaks down the best and worst matchups of Week 7, putting Daniel Jones at the top of the list for QB streamers.

NFL Game Previews: Chiefs-Broncos Matchup

Yesterday

Erik Siegrist previews the Thursday night matchup as the visiting Chiefs look to stave off an upset bid by the AFC West rival Broncos.

Thursday Night Football DFS Breakdown: Chiefs vs. Broncos

2 days ago

The Chiefs' offense offers plenty of upside plays, but RotoWire's Andrew Laird says don't forget about the Broncos' Courtland Sutton on Thursday night.

Hidden Stat Line: NFL Week 6 Recap

3 days ago

Jerry Donabedian recaps all 14 games from Week 6, highlighting increased usage for Hunter Henry and Mike Williams at the expense of Keenan Allen.

Weekly Rankings: Week 7 Value Meter

3 days ago

What do you do with slumping wide receivers like Keenan Allen? Check out his slot in our Week 7 Rankings.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

The genesis of the stats was a shade less dynamic - lower catch rate, lower YPC - but Kelce still pushed over that magic 1,000-yard plateau and posted his best touchdown season. In other words, he finally learned how to click with Alex Smith, Mr. Conservative. Alas, Mr. Smith is now gone to Washington, and Kelce needs to learn how to play with Patrick Mahomes, a high-pedigree, low-experience second-year quarterback. We suspect Kelce can succeed in any environment, but it also makes you curious to see how the Chiefs click this preseason. Will they continue to push the ball downfield as they did last season, contrary to previous seasons? Or will coach Andy Reid revert to protect-the-ball, dink-and-dunk? Kelce also has to share a little more, as the Chiefs have another mouth to feed in the offense - freshly acquired Sammy Watkins. And still, there have been only 43 tight-end seasons of 1,000 yards in NFL history and Kelce has two of them. Maybe the quarterback simply doesn't matter. At 6-5, 260, Kelce is no match for defensive backs, and he's a playmaker in the open field with speed and elusiveness. Kelce's 2013 season was wiped out by a knee injury, but he's only missed one start since. If you don't like the running backs and wide receivers you're faced with in the early rounds, a pivot to Kelce is always a reasonable alternative.

For the most part, 2016 goes down as a glorious breakthrough year for Kelce, a 6-5, 260-pound athletic freak who is often compared to Rob Gronkowski. He led all tight ends in yards last year and was just one catch from the TE reception crown (Dennis Pitta finished first; use that as your bar bet, then drink for free all night). With Jamaal Charles out of the mix and Jeremy Maclin also injured much of the year, the Chiefs were forced to move outside of their comfort zone and Kelce was a major beneficiary. Alas, it still felt like some production was left on the table. Kelce only hauled in eight of his 18 red-zone targets, and four touchdowns is a light return for someone who catches 85 balls. Part of the blame goes to Alex Smith, who isn't used to making any kind of throw unless it's wide open. But at the end of the day, we're still going to approach Kelce with optimism. The arrow is pointing up after he topped 100 yards in five of seven games to close out 2016, pushing him to a No. 1 finish among tight ends in any reasonable format. And with Jeremy Maclin gone, there's potential for growth beyond last season's 117 targets. Smith isn't going to keep him from fantasy greatness, nor is Andy Reid. Heading into his age-28 season, Kelce is one of the few tight ends worth an early selection.

Kelce had a solid year last season, but not the breakout many expected, especially after his 106-yard, two-touchdown Week 1 performance. He scored just three touchdowns the rest of the way and had only two games with more than 75 yards, neither close to another triple-digit day. The culprit was a dink-and-dunk offense that attempted just 37 passes of more than 20 yards, second fewest in the league. Kelce saw only five of those and was limited to 17 targets in the 11-20-yard range, T-17th among tight ends. While he had a career-high 103 targets, 78.6 percent came on attempts of no more than 10 yards. As a result, his YPC (12.2) and YPT (8.5) slipped from his 2014 numbers, and he finished ninth at the position with 10 catches of 20-plus yards, five fewer than the previous season. The story at the goal line wasn't much better, where, for the second year in a row, he was barely used – a mere three targets and one touchdown inside the 10-yard line. At 6-5, 260, he should be more of a goal-line threat, and he has the necessary hands, speed (4.61 40) and elusiveness to be a playmaker in the open field. Perhaps he will get more downfield opportunities with new offensive coordinators this season, but Andy Reid is still calling the plays.

After losing his rookie season to a knee injury, Kelce entered last year in a timeshare with Anthony Fasano. It didn't take long for him to become the team's best receiver and one of the league's best playmakers at tight end. Despite only starting 11 games and playing limited snaps early in the year, Kelce led the Chiefs in receiving, finishing sixth among tight ends in catches and yards. In a run-first offense that didn't do much downfield passing, Kelce took advantage of defenses that stacked the box to stop Jamaal Charles, totaling a position-leading 512 yards after the catch. His 7.6 YAC average also led tight ends as his speed (4.61 40) and elusiveness in the open field helped him gain a whopping 59.3 percent of his yards after the catch. He had 9.9 yards per target (1st) and had 15 receptions of 20-plus yards (3rd). At 6-5, 260, Kelce was too much to handle even with double-teams and safety help that appeared later in the year. Kelce, who only scored five touchdowns, has room for growth, too, as the Chiefs didn't use him much at the goal line (three targets, two scores inside the 10). Fasano was not re-signed, leaving behind 36 targets, including five in the red zone. And with new WR Jeremy Maclin stretching the field, secondaries can't focus solely on stopping Kelce, who could see 100 targets this season.

A third-round draft pick last season, Kelce lost his rookie season to a knee injury. He could play a significant role in the passing game this year, though, if he returns healthy. At 6-5, 260, he is bigger than incumbent starter Anthony Fasano (6-4, 255) and has more speed and can stretch the field. With the Chiefs lacking reliable receivers and favoring a short-to-intermediate passing game, Kelce is in a good situation to produce. Fasano and backup Sean McGrath combined for 73 targets last year, so there is opportunity to be had in the passing game.

Kelce may be the most talented TE from the 2013 draft class but will have to fight Tony Moeaki and Anthony Fasano for playing time as a rookie.

More Fantasy News

Held in check versus Texans

TEKansas City Chiefs

October 13, 2019

Kelce caught four of six targets for 58 yards during Sunday's 31-24 loss to the Texans.