After briefly mulling over retirement during the offseason, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been all-in on being the best version of himself for the 2025 season.

Some are wondering where Kelce ranks among the top TEs in the NFL now that he’s entering his 13th season and is coming off career lows in receiving yards and touchdowns. The answer to that may be a bit tricky as the Chiefs try to utilize their deep cast of pass catchers and preserve Kelce throughout the long grind of the season.

As long as he’s fresh and healthy, Kelce will still be a game-changer. Following Monday’s training camp practice, Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier shared a story of Kelce rejuvenating the offense while it was in a sluggish state by making a big play.

“[Today] was one of the hotter days of training camp in full pads,” Bleymaier said. “We started off slow on offense. Travis gets a route one-on-one, and we hadn’t seen many completions out there today, but Travis beat his man one-on-one, breaks out for a 20-yard gain, and kind of sets the tone for everybody that hey, if we get man-to-man coverage, we’re winning these routes.

The veteran that he is, the amount of years out here, and then when everybody was pushing through the dog days of camp, it was him who made the play one-on-one against the defense. That kind of just goes to that bigger picture where maybe you don’t recognize the years as much because it’s just the same old Travis. That’s what he’s always been doing. For him to be able to dig deep and do that, that was a fountain of youth moment today in full pads out here.”

That goes to show that Kelce is still someone the Chiefs can turn to when the chips are down and they need a pick-up. It’s not only a reflection of him still possessing top-end physical traits, but also a tribute to his leadership. Kelce certainly has nothing to prove and wouldn’t be blamed for taking it easy during a tough practice, but he’s just not wired that way, which is why he’s an all-time great.