In the third segment of my 2016 stat projections for the Chiefs, going position by position, I will be taking on Kansas City’s tight ends.
In the past 20 years, the tight end position has become a coveted one for the Kansas City Chiefs organization. This is mainly due to the fact that former Chief and likely future HOFer Tony Gonzalez manned that spot for 12 long seasons from 1997 to 2008. After Gonzalez was traded to the Falcons during the ’09 NFL offseason, there was a period of a few years were KC was having a hard time finding Tony G’s eventual replacement on the roster.
Finally, after a constant revolving door of tight ends went in and out of 1 Arrowhead Drive for a few years, KC has found their guy in fourth-year TE Travis Kelce. Sure, there are things that Gonzalez can do that Kelce can’t, but Kelce is still young and also likely has his best years ahead of him as well. After missing his entire rookie season due to injury, the ex-Cincinnati Bearcat has really come on strong for the red and gold these last two seasons.
He has really emerged as one of the best all-around TEs in the league today and I see him continuing to get better and better as his NFL career progresses. The fact that he is equally as good of a blocker as he is a pass-catcher makes him such a huge threat in this offense every time he lines up on the field. I project Kelce to have slightly better numbers in 2016 than what we saw him do last year.
After Kelce, it gets a little muddier as far as sure contributors on Kansas City’s roster at tight end. Last year’s second and third best tight ends on the roster were rookie James O’Shaughnessy and the talented but still raw Demetrius Harris. The pair of 24-year-olds combined for just 13 catches and 161 receiving yards to go along with only one TD grab last season as well for the entire regular season. Needless to say, I expect both of them to improve on their minimal production from the ’15 season.
Rounding out the tight end portion of the Chiefs current roster is second-year men Brian Parker and Ross Travis. Parker had just one catch for 6 yards last year and didn’t accumulate any stats or even see the field this past season. I’m not projecting much for either of these guys in 2016.
Next: Stat projections