Travis Kelce is playing the position of tight end a level we have never seen before. He is without question the best tight end in football at the current time, and perhaps the best of all time. When he does decide to call it a career he will end up in Canton, Ohio.
On Thursday, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was honored by Madden, being given a 99 overall rating. Not many players have been in this elite company, and even fewer tight ends, but Kelce deserved every bit of it.
Kelce sits currently at second in the NFL in receiving yards, trailing the Seattle Seahawks D.K. Metcalf by just five yards. Kelce sits at 1,114, and after a big performance against the Denver Broncos on Sunday night he once again has a thousand-yard season for catching the ball. He has now had over one thousand yards receiving in five straight seasons.
Sunday night Kelce’s dominance was on display once again, as he dominated the Broncos from start till finish. His route running was crisp, but what was very impressive was the amount of yards after the catch that he was able to pick up.
Kelce finished the game with a monster stat line, eight catches for 136 yards, and one touchdown, and averaging a whopping 17 yards a catch. We are used to seeing Kelce’s awesome route running, but this week he dominated with the ball after the catch, throwing one particularly dirty stiff arm into the chest of a helpless Broncos defensive back.
It was a bad day to be a Denver Bronco Defensive back. Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes connection continues to grow every single game they play together, and so to does both of their places in football history. Mahomes as we all know is on a path to greatness the likes of which have never been seen before, but it is time for Kelce to get his due. He has changed the tight end position forever and is shattering records along the way.
Kansas City is familiar with great tight ends, having had Tony Gonzalez from 1997 till 2008, who holds every major tight end record in football and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. In his career, Gonzalez had four total seasons having over one thousand yards catching the ball between Kansas City and the Atlanta Falcons.
Kelce now has five, the most of any tight end to ever play the game, and he is on the verge of breaking the single-season receiving record for a tight end, which is currently held by George Kittle, who set the record in 2018 with 1,377 yards. With four games to go Kelce has 1,114 and is looking to shatter the record, needing only 263 yards. Kelce is averaging 110 yards a game this season, so it seems as it will be another record for him to add to his collection.
Kelce still has a long way to go before he will be able to catch Gonzalez as far as stats and overall accomplishments, but by this season’s end, he will only trail Gonzalez by around 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns. Gonzalez will still have the distinct advantage in pro bowls with 14 and all-pro appearances with ten total, but Kelce will have something Gonzalez never had, and will have the chance to continue to grow his legacy by playing in big playoff games and hopefully more Super Bowls.
Winning makes everything seem better, and with Mahomes as his quarterback, it seems like Kelce is going to do a lot more winning in the very near future. The Madden 99 club is elite company to be in, but it is time to start talking about putting Kelce in a different club. A club that the best to ever play the game belongs in.
A gold jacket is on the horizon for Kelce who continues his pursuit of being the best tight end of all time. One day he will be in the sacred grounds of Canton Ohio, enshrined in the Hall of Fame. As for now, he is the best tight end in the NFL, and perhaps the best offensive player in the league.
