Chiefs TE Travis Kelce Proves His Worth [GIF]

When Travis Kelce was selected by the Chiefs with their second pick – first pick in the third round – in April 2013, a lot of fans were perplexed and upset by the decision. John Dorsey had just signed Anthony Fasano to a multi-year, multi-million dollar free agent contract, and there was still hope for Tony Moeaki as a backup tight end to supplement Fasano in the passing game.

Why then, with all of the Chiefs needs at wide receiver, defensive line, and in the secondary, would the Chiefs select another tight end? Last night gave us a glimps of the reason to that ‘why’ question.

Remember Kelce is 6-5, 260 pounds running past and away from defensive backs on that play. His ability to shake a defensive back and attack the seam in order to create space is something the Chiefs offense hasn’t had since Tony Gonzalez was traded to the Atlanta Falcons. In fact, Kelce was so good on that play that Chase Daniel basically didn’t have to do anything but get the ball somewhere in the general area of Kelce – Kelce did all of the work on that play.

When Kelce was draft he was described as a Rob Gronkowski type of player, full of speed, athleticism, and energy. Kelce has the aggressiveness to block in the running game and the finesse to do what you saw above. The number of people who can do that in this league can be counted on one hand, and you may not even have to use all of the fingers.

We saw last night between De’Anthony Thomas and Kelce the Chiefs newfound ability to create big plays at any given moment. And they’ve done this without having to invest a lot of money in free agency or first or second round picks. Once Alex Smith gets his timing down and the offensive line becomes comfortable in their own skin – they are the youngest offensive line in the NFL after all – then the potential for the Chiefs to have an explosive offense is very much there, thanks, in part, to Mr. Kelce.