Both Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have a decent chance of breaking every single-season receiving record in Chiefs history in the same season.
It only took Patrick Mahomes rookie season (as a starter) to rewrite all of the record books for the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the quarterback is setting record marks for touchdowns and yardage in a single season, then it makes sense that the various offensive weapons around him would also put up silly stats—and maybe even set some records, too. Mahomes’s ability to generate yardage and points so quickly is not only making him a star in K.C. and beyond but he’s also elevating the stock of bright young players like Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
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It’s not that Kelce and Hill needed any help to be good. Some quarterbacks make their pass catchers relevant, but K.C. already had all of those pieces in place before installing boy wonder at quarterback. Tyreek Hill was already on the cusp of joining the best wideouts in the game even with Alex Smith under center, and Kelce was already known as the best tight end in football without a Soviet suffix on the end of his name. Each player already had multiple Pro Bowls to his credit, but now playing with Mahomes, they’re achieving something else entirely.
Both players could easily eclipse every single-season receiving record in the books for the Chiefs by year’s end. Let’s take a look at the relevant marks:
- Most Receptions: 102, Tony Gonzalez, 2004
- Most Receiving Yards: 1,391, Derrick Alexander, 2000
- Most Receiving Touchdowns: 15, Dwayne Bowe, 2010
Three records that have stood for 13, 17 and 7 years respectively could all fall because, hey, this is the modern NFL and, hey, the lovechild of Aaron Rodgers and Dan Marino is the new quarterback.
We’ve already discussed in great detail how Tyreek Hill is on track for such greatness, but for the sake of quick review, Hill is currently averaging over 100 yards/game as a receiver. He only needs to average 57 yards/game for the rest of the year in order to eclipse Alexander’s yardage record. Barring injury, Hill should own that record by Week 14.
Hill also has 11 touchdowns on the year through the air and only needs 5 more to best Bowe’s record of 15. This one might be a bit tougher, but know that Hill’s touchdowns come in bunches with four games of multiple TDs on the year. So far he’s averaged one/game and that’s a rate he has to maintain to keep it.
As for Kelce, he’s guaranteed to set career marks in every receiving category but he could also own a couple records as well. Right now, Kelce is on pace for 1,329 yards on the season, not only a career high but as you can see, only 62 yards off the all-time Chiefs franchise record. While Hill will set a new high, it’s likely that Kelce and Hill will both break the mark in the same year.
Kelce would need to average 96 yards/game to break the record. But get this: Kelce is already averaging 90 yards/game if you take out game one in which he had a single catch for six yards—an anomaly on the stat sheet that is unlikely to be replicated. Kelce has hit his stride as go-to target for Mahomes who is nearly impossible to defend. Will it be a stretch for Kelce to break Alexander’s record? Yes, but it’s definitely possible.
Even more, Kelce could break Gonzalez’s receptions record. Even with that outlier of an opening game against the Chargers, Kelce is on track to hit 97 total receptions, which would be good for third all-time for the Chiefs. He would need another 5 to tie or 6 to break it, so if Kelce can average 7 catches between now and the end of the season, he will own the all-time record.
While there’s a lot of football left to play, the Chiefs are on track to setting numerous marks when the dust settles on the 2018 season. There’s a reason why their offense is the talking point of the entire league. Here’s hoping Chiefs Kingdom appreciates the display put on each week because each and every game is literally history in the making. In the end, it’s likely we will be able to say we saw records set on our watch.