Travis — Zeus — Kelce, the second coming of Tony Gonzalez, or whatever nickname you use to describe this stellar Kansas City Chiefs player, one thing can’t be contested: he is one of the best players on the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only that, but he is considered one of best tight ends in all of football. The more we hear about Travis Kelce, the more the question arises, “We know he’s great, but how is he compared to all the other great TEs?” Well you’re in luck, because I’m here to answer that question for you. Let’s find out where he stands among all the other greats!
Starting with his accomplishments, it’s not hard to step into a franchise-record or a league-record even if you just search his name online. Travis Kelce has repeatedly broken, and continues to break, records that some of the most skilled wide receivers in the NFL can’t accomplish. Not only that, but he’s one of the most flexible players on the Kansas City Chiefs, filling roles from a running back and a great blocker, to a wide receiver, and a one-time touchdown-passing quarterback:
Some of the accomplishments that he can attach to his resumé are:
- the 26th pass catcher in NFL history, and
- the first tight end ever, to obtain at least 1,000 receiving yards for at least five straight seasons.
Starting off the conversation of Travis Kelce among the greats, he established his own league-wide record of obtaining 1,416 receiving yards in 2020, surpassing the previous record-holder, 49ers TE George Kittle (we’ll get to him), whose record was 1,377 receiving yards in 2018. That same year, in 2020, Travis finished the regular season and postseason with 1,643 receiving yards, also the most by any TE ever. His list of accolades go on and on, and his highlights and achievements reach a length similar to that of an encyclopedia, which can be found on the Chiefs’ own website: https://www.chiefs.com/team/players-roster/travis-kelce/
Already, we know that Travis Kelce has surpassed records unseen and unheard of, but let’s look further into some comparisons.
“I wrote last year about how Travis Kelce had a historically great 3-season stretch from 16-18. He followed that up with a 97 catch, 1,229 season in 2019. This is unprecedented.” –Seth Keysor, March 2020
The first person we’ll look into is Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ TE Rob Gronkowski. We all know him and his friend Tom Brady have crushed all sorts of records, but that Travis Kelce is running up behind him, as Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon agrees:
“The consensus for some time has been that Rob Gronkowski is the greatest tight end of his generation, if not the best in NFL history at that position. And while Gronk’s reputation still inarguably towers over all of his elite positional peers from the 21st century, it’s worth pointing out that Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs is making a heck of a run at Gronk’s legacy on paper.”
With that being said, where does Travis Kelce sit in this race?
From the bat, in the regular season, Travis has a better rushing record than Rob (not shown), in attempts, yards, and touchdowns. More importantly, Travis collects more receptions per game, more receiving yards per game, and even holds 994 career pass targets total, as compared to Rob’s 960. Clearly, Travis Kelce is the more favored receiver, even with a two year difference in career length.
Now, let’s remove Rob Gronkowski’s previous two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and compare the nine years he was with the New England Patriots, with the nine years Travis Kelce has been with the Kansas City Chiefs, a more even comparison:
Simply put, Travis Kelce absolutely demolishes Rob Gronkowski in 13 out of 17 of the categories used for comparison. He won over in total games played, total games started, rushing attempts, rushing yards, every other rushing category except rushing yards per attempt, and [most importantly] wins over in every other receiving category such as receptions per game, and receiving yards, except for receiving touchdowns, and yards per reception.
It’s a common consensus that Gronk is “Top 3 TE of All Time” list, and in many folks’ minds on the “Top 5 TE of All Time” list. The fact that Kelce is above Gronkowski in the most important categories in just nine seasons — and even when compared to Gronkowski’s 11 seasons — proves he already has a head start among the greats.
Now let’s move on to a current favorite: the San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle.
George Kittle has solidified himself as one of the best current TEs, and constantly shatters everyone’s expectations, but does Travis Kelce jump the gun in records against him too?
This comparison is a little bit different. Where Kelce trumped Gronkowski in almost every category, even in rushing, neither of the tight ends actually performed a lot in the rushing category. That’s much different with Kittle, as he seems to be a lot more focused on rushing plays as compared to Kelce (likely due to the offensive scheme preferences of HC Kyle Shanahan). Even with his four fewer years in the NFL, Kittle has Kelce beat in the rushing categories all the way around –> except for rushing touchdowns: Kittle has zero and Kelce has two.
When we look at their receiving stats, it’s a bit more limited since their career lengths are different, but Kelce beats Kittle in receptions per game by a slim margin — 5.5 vs 5.0 — and also surpasses Kittle in receiving yards per game as well, with an average of 70.9 vs Kittle’s 67.
It’s a tight race, and NFL on ESPN agrees:
It seems that Kittle is definitely a very talented player, no argument there, but Kelce still has a lot of neck in the game in terms of current greats. We should expect a fun TE rivalry between the two in the future, and I look forward to bringing them to another comparison in the coming years.
Next, you know who I have to bring up: Drum roll please –>Tony Gonzalez!
His name frequently comes up as the best tight end of All-time, and just about everyone ranks him on top.
Notably, he held his own league-wide record for receptions and receiving yards, while becoming the first tight end in NFL history to hold four 1,000 yard seasons (in 4 non-consecutive season: 2000, 2004, 2007, and 2008). He even holds the second place trophy for career receptions, the first being Jerry Rice. Not only does he hold records for his ability, but he earned 14 trips to the Pro Bowl, with only four others in NFL history being able to say the same.
Now I’m personally scared to look at this: Tony is considered the best, he really is, and many will back up that claim, but is Tony any better, or is Travis the new champion?
Sports Illustrated’s Conner Christopherson believes so and says:
“Former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez is the greatest tight end ever. His longevity coupled with his production at the position was – and still is – unmatched. Now, with that being said: Travis Kelce has surpassed Tony Gonzalez as the best Chiefs tight end of all-time”
Let’s see if Conner is telling us the truth:
Well, it’s obviously a little difficult to compare them equally here, because Gonzalez has had so much more time amassed in the NFL, but if we look at some of the statistics averaged, or per game, we can see the following:
NFLComparisons.com show that in the regular season, Kelce holds the trophy over Gonzalez for:
- rushing yards per game
- rushing attempts per game
- receptions per game
- and almost double the receiving yards per game at a staggering 70.9, as compared to Gonzalez at 56.
The trend of accolades holds true to the post season as well. Overall, Kelce holds more averaged accomplishments over Tony Gonzalez. This is great for Travis, because this means his entire career so far has been on fire, and is on par to be the greatest, but there’s still a lot of time left for him to prove that.
Only time will tell if Kelce stays as long as Gonzalez did, and if he can truly over shadow Tony’s entire career, but you can see very clearly, that even though Tony is considered by many as the best TE ever, Kelce beats him out in just about every average thus far. It’s possible that Travis Kelce burns out, and if he plays the same amount of time as Tony Gonzalez did, could end up being worse, in total and on average. Maybe I’ll be around to write the article titled, “Travis Kelce Beats Tony Gonzalez as the Best Tight End in NFL History,” or maybe Tony Gonzalez will still hold the crown, or even someone else like George Kittle… only time will tell.
Thinking about everything we just covered, it’s hard not to shout, “Travis Kelce is the King of the World!!!” –> at the top of my lungs at the head of the world’s biggest ship. However, I guess we’ll have to wait for that. Until then, it’s clear that though Travis Kelce has some competition, he’s definitely going to be, at least, chiseled onto the Mount Rushmore of NFL tight ends.
Go Chiefs!
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Chief Dennis — ArrowheadOne
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