Chiefs rookie report, Week 6: Creed Humphrey continues to excel

Noah Gray

So far this season, Noah Gray has been a bit overlooked and/or underutilized. That might be changing soon enough.

Gray came into the league with a reputation as being a sponge when it comes to his teachability to go with a hard work ethic. That’s a great base for a player to have when learning from Andy Reid, and given his natural talents as a pass catcher, it looked like Gray could be a nice find as a young second tight end who could be a dependable target across from Travis Kelce or when spelling him for a series or two.

However, the Chiefs came into the regular season with four tight ends, including Jody Fortson and Blake Bell, and it has been Fortson who has earned the chance to grab some important passes at tight end. Unfortunately Fortson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 6, and Blake Bell has also been hurt lately as well. Even Kelce exited Sunday’s game a couple times and looked like something was clearly hurting him, although he continued to play through it.

The bottom line is that the Chiefs need to give Kelce rest with the long-term view in mind while also making up for Fortson’s loss on the field. That makes Gray a solid bet to grow into a larger role on offense than the two targets in five games he’s been given to date.