On Friday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler continued his series of rankings based on input from NFL executives, coaches and scouts. This time, the league’s top 10 tight ends were listed.
Fowler laid it out.
The George Kittle vs. Travis Kelce battle raged on for a half-decade in glorious fashion.
And now it’s over.
The top tier of this year’s tight ends list features multiple fresh names — and a new tight end king.
Kittle and Kelce will have gold jackets waiting for them after retirement. For now, they have tight ends within their respective divisions who are jockeying for position.
Yes… this list begins with the Las Vegas Raiders’ Brock Bowers, followed by Kittle, the Detroit Lions’ Sam LaPorta and the Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride. And then we finally see the Kansas City Chiefs’ superstar.
5. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Highest ranking: 4
Lowest ranking: unranked
Age: 35
Last year’s ranking: 1The back-to-back tight end king fell well short of first place after signs of decline surfaced in 2024.
Most of that can be chalked up to age. Kelce turns 36 in October and has played nearly 200 games over 12 years, including playoffs.
But several evaluators noted that Kelce played heavier last year, something he’s aiming to fix. He has slimmed down this offseason in preparation for what could be his final season. While a team source believes any weight issues did not affect his play dramatically, lack of explosive plays was a problem. His 8.5 yards per catch were a career low by a wide margin.
“For sure [he showed] signs of physical decline, but you still have to worry about him because he’s such a smart player with a great connection with the QB,” a veteran pro personnel evaluator said. “Just doesn’t get open like he used to.”
Kelce is still dangerous in the red zone, where he turned 26 targets into 19 catches for 106 yards and three scores. He still led the Chiefs in targets (133) last season.
While Kelce will remain a focal point, the Chiefs expect to have full health at wide receiver, and tight ends Noah Gray and Jared Wiley could grow in stature.
“He’s still awesome,” an NFC executive said of Kelce. “It might not look as exotic as he used to, but you still look up and he’s got nine for 70.”
My take
Over many seasons, I’ve pretty much exhausted my outrage about Kittle over Kelce. Since he is four years younger than the world’s most famous tight end, it was inevitable that Kittle would once again rise above his Kansas City rival. Now it’s happened — and I’m largely OK with it.
It’s true: Kelce looked heavier and slower in 2024. And in Super Bowl LIX — a situation in which we would typically expect him to be great — he was disappointing. Even Kelce admits that.
But he also appears to be re-energizing himself. He’s not only lost weight, but seems determined to return to form in 2025.
And it could happen.
No… he’s not going to magically become the 27-year-old who began an incredible streak of seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2016. But we could see him return to the player he was in 2023, when he just missed his eighth 1,000-yard season by deliberately sitting out the final regular-season matchup so he could be at 100% in the postseason. That paid off. Over those four games, he led all receivers with 32 receptions for 355 yards — and scored three touchdowns, too.
Yes… Kelce is two years older than he was for that run — and Father Time remains undefeated. But at least part of the reason he didn’t get open as often in 2024 was the absence of wide receivers Rahsee Rice and Hollywood Brown. Without them, it was much easier for defenses to focus their attention on him.
So before we write him off for 2025, let’s see what he can do when Kansas City fields a solid corps of wideouts. I’m certain that Kelce would like nothing better than surprising everyone with another great season.
