Travis Kelce could make Chiefs Top 5 all-time receivers list

This year, Travis Kelce can begin to really enter the conversation for career marks with the Chiefs with another strong season.

At this point, Travis Kelce is nearly at the halfway point to the Kansas City Chiefs all-time receiving yards mark, held by Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.

It seems a bit odd that Kelce, the NFL’s top tight end himself, is so far behind a living legend like Gonzalez, but it gives a bit of perspective of how long it takes a player to enter himself into the conversation of those who were truly great. At that point, it’s not just about ability but availability as well.

NFL history is riddled with great seasons or even a run of consecutive years in which a player performs excellently. What really sets a player apart is when they establish a run of success for numerous seasons in a row, far beyond a simple surge of a season or two. Travis Kelce is entering such rarified air, a high-impact receiver at tight end who now lays claim to the best in the business.

With the mantle of best tight end, Kelce must now put up a season or four with that banner over his head in order to reach the level of NFL immortality available to him. Most players will never even have the opportunity to generate the sorts of numbers put up annually by Kelce. Now the Chiefs have to hope he stays productive and healthy in order to move up the team’s record books.

Last season, Kelce set a franchise and NFL record for most receptions by a tight end (which was later broken by George Kittle). Kelce also set a career high with 1,336 receiving yards—more than 200 yards over his previous career mark.

Currently Kelce stands at 410 receptions for 5,236 receiving yards. That receptions mark ties him for fourth overall in Chiefs history with Otis Taylor, meaning he will be top 4 all time with his next regular season catch. He can catch Henry Marshall with 416 within the first game or two of the season. With a tremendous year, there is a slight chance he could match Dwayne Bowe at No. 2 with 532.

When it comes to receiving yards, Kelce is in 8th place on the team’s all time list with 5,236—just six yards more than Eddie Kennison. If Kelce is able to match last year’s total of 1,336, it would give him a total of 6,572 receiving yards. That mark is good enough for fourth place all time behind Gonzalez, Taylor and Bowe. If he makes that leap, that means he’s also leaving Marshall, Carlos Carson, Stephone Paige, and Chris Burford in the rearview mirror.

From there, just one more season of 1K yards or more would give him the No. 2 spot all time in K.C. That places him in tandem with Tony Gonzalez in Chiefs history, giving them two incredible pass catchers at the tight end position to celebrate.

This season Kelce should really enter the conversation of all time franchise greats, and only a couple more seasons of sustained production should be needed to start the conversation of greater NFL immortality as a potential Hall of Fame candidate.