Travis Kelce may be getting older, but he’s still showing up where it counts: on ESPN’s annual top-10 tight ends list. The Kansas City Chiefs star landed at No. 10 in Jeremy Fowler’s latest ranking, a reminder that the position may be getting younger, but Kelce hasn’t been pushed out of the conversation yet.
Fowler’s case for keeping Kelce on the list wasn’t built on nostalgia. He drew a line from Kelce to tight ends like Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez, pointing to the way he can “use route savvy to wiggle [their] way for first downs, hopefully with room to run.”
And there’s still production behind that reputation. Fowler noted Kelce’s 429 yards after the catch last season, which ranked third among qualified tight ends. He also said Kelce was in better shape than he was the year before, though the nine drops he had were part of the evidence that the end may be approaching for the Chiefs tight end.
Kelce, by all accounts, has already wrestled with that possibility. He reportedly spent a long time considering retirement last year, and after Kansas City’s disappointing season, he sent out signals that suggested he was thinking hard about his future. With a married life and a billionaire wife, he’s not exactly lacking options.
Still, not everyone around the league would have minded if he walked away. One NFC personnel evaluator told Fowler, "He's still the ageless wonder at the position," an NFC personnel evaluator said. "His elite route savvy, body control and instincts allow him to still compete at a high level, despite him getting up in age."
The real issue for Kansas City now is what kind of help Kelce gets around him. Fowler said Kelce needs support to keep posting big numbers, and the Chiefs are not on firm ground in their ability to provide it. Kansas City did add running back Kenneth Walker III to help a running game that was almost non-existent, but questions remain about whether the receivers can do enough to keep defenses from zeroing in on Kelce.
That answer won’t come right away. Training camp is the earliest point when the picture should start to clear, and with the Chiefs rumored to be pursuing multiple veteran free agents, Kelce’s short-term outlook is tied closely to what Kansas City does next.
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