Something significant is happening at tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.
While Travis Kelce remains healthy and a solid pass-catching weapon for the Chiefs offense, a shift of sorts seems to be taking place in the second half of the season. And it's a seismic one considering just how central of a pillar Kelce has been since being drafted back in 2013.
In case you haven't noticed, Noah Gray, the team's second tight end, has become a beast in the red zone lately—to the tune of four touchdowns caught in the team's last two games. For a player with four touchdowns in his first three seasons in the NFL—all healthy—it's notable that he's been emphasized so much in the red zone in '24.
Now, it's a small sample size to be sure, so it's a bit irresponsible to extrapolate too much from two mid-season games when talking about a greater offensive shift. However, it's important to read the other tea leaves offered up by the Chiefs lately in conjunction with other roster moves and financial considerations in concert with Gray's productive leap. Taken together, it's worth noticing (and honoring) as the torch begins to change hands.
Gray has four receiving touchdowns over the last two weeks.
A passing of the torch? Yes, that's what we seeing—at least from Kelce's end. That's not to say that Kelce cannot dominate or will not take over in the postseason. That's also not to say that he won't continue to earn his fair share of receptions or even touchdowns, and we're certainly not insinuating this is his swan song and '24 is the capstone season.
Let's not get carried away.
Here's what's important: After more than a decade of dominating other elite athletes—even embarrassing opposing defenses—for one season after another, Kelce's come into 2024 a different player than before. Running the offense through him in the past was a winning formula, but this season, it's clear he's going to profile better as a secondary or tertiary target. If centralized, the Chiefs' offense becomes slower—even plodding—and predictable.
That slower aspect might not be as big of a deal except other aspects are only hurting the Chiefs there, too. The running game is much slower as well with Kareem Hunt and a host of other bigger rushers. Marquise Brown is not around to stretch the field, and Xavier Worthy has needed time to earn trust and reps. Rashee Rice isn't around to take advantage of defenses collapsing in on Kelce, and the team's tackles are forcing Patrick Mahomes to make quicker-than-desired decisions.
The sum total has been a frustrating offensive season so far, even as signs of life were seen against the Panthers in Week 12.
Back to Gray. It began against the Buffalo Bills, when he had two touchdowns from Mahomes in a losing effort. Worthy had a nice game there, too, and together, it revealed a different offensive emphasis for the Chiefs. Worthy was running more routes and earning more looks, Gray was trusted i the red zone. Defenses weren't sure where Mahomes would go when under duress and suddenly the offense looked more effective.
This week featured more of the same. Worthy led all wideouts in receiving yards and Gray led the entire team (66). Kelce had 62, so he's still right there in the picture, but he's learning how to fade into the bigger picture instead of being the one out front of it all. The end result is a much more varied approach that's far less predictable and less dependent on long, sustained drives that are more methodical than mesmerizing.
As the Chiefs continue to add new faces back from injury or fresh signings like D.J. Humphries, Kelce's position as "one of the guys" instead of "the guy" is going to help keep opponents guessing even as he remains very effective as Mahomes' most trusted weapon. Mahomes can play knowing he can always depend on Kelce to do the right thing even as defenses leave other now-trusted weapons open—especially Gray as another tight end in bigger personnel packages.
It's a shift that wasn't needed before now, but the Chiefs knew it was coming which is why they rewarded Gray with a long-term extension in the first place. They also drafted Jared Wiley. Not everything happens overnight and it might not be a linear shift from one week to the next, but Gray's emergence is coinciding with Kelce's recession—just as the team planned. As the postseason nears, the offense is going to be all the better for it.