Over the past seven seasons, Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce has recorded over 1,000 receiving yards in every single year since 2016. In that span, he's broken the record for the most consecutive 1000-yard seasons by a tight end by several years, yet at some point, the streak will end. Could he have another thousand-yard season in him in 2023?
Given that a knee injury/bone bruise kept Kelce out of the Chiefs home opener versus the Detroit Lions, it makes sense to wonder Kelce's streak in jeopardy?
Kelce is one of the best tight ends to ever have stepped on the football field and has taken the ceiling as a receiver there to new heights. Ever since Kelce notched his 1,125-yard season in 2016, he has been off and running with historic levels of production, including a career-high 110 receptions a year ago on over 150 targets—a heavy workload that was a direct result of the Tyreek Hill trade.
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Travis Kelce's historic run of sustained production faces challenges for an eighth straight year of 1,000 receiving yards.
As a tight end, putting up a single 1,000-yard season is very rare yet to achieve seven such seasons is truly elite. Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski only had four seasons in which he gained 1,000 yards or more. The same can be said of Tony Gonzalez. Both players are also in conversation for the best tight end ever and Kelce has almost double the number of 1,000-yard seasons.
What's even more amazing is that Kelce has pulled off such a tremendous run of success for so long. With seven consecutive seasons to his name with a thousand receiving yards or more, he's completely obliterated any and all expectations for sustained success. Consider that each of the following players was only ever able to put two such seasons together in a row: Shannon Sharpe, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Rob Gronkowski, Todd Christensen, Kellen Winslow Sr., George Kittle, and Darren Waller.
In Week 2, Kelce made his debut after sitting out the Chiefs' loss to the Lions and found the end zone once. He also notched 26 yards on 4 receptions with some penalties ruining other opportunities. Last week against the Chicago Bears, Kelce finally seemed back to his normal self after leading the Chiefs in receiving yards on the afternoon—with 7 catches for 69 yards and 1 score.
Is Kelce back to normal at this point? Can he make up for a bit of lost time? There's no doubt Kelce will still be the primary target for Patrick Mahomes in this year's offense. I believe Kelce will continue his streak this season unless that bone bruise gets reaggravated or something else happens. It's important to remember that Kelce also has incredible durability and has fought through multiple injuries in his ten-year career. His knee is only a minor setback, especially with how well he takes care of himself, and I believe Kelce will achieve an eighth consecutive season of at least 1,000 receiving yards.