Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is an athletic mismatch every week he lines up. But owners were disappointed with his production this season before his mini-breakout game against the New England Patriots that saw him catch eight balls for 93 yards and one touchdown. Could this be the start of a fantasy roll for Kelce?
"Kelce isn't a top-tier route-runner at this stage of his career. More of an athlete that gets open from my perspective. And that's fine, as he will continue to develop with reps on the field after missing the entire 2013 season," wrote Matt Bowen from BleacherReport.com.
"However, he still has the matchup ability that every offense wants when looking at his size and athleticism to separate. This is where I see the similarities to [Rob] Gronkowski before injuries started to add up for the Patriots tight end."
Bowen noted that Kelce has the potential to put up big numbers as he gets more comfortable in coach Andy Reid's offensive system.
"Offensive game plans can change and opposing teams will scheme specifically to limit production based on the tape," Bowen wrote. "However, Kelce has the size and the skill set to make an impact on the game in Reid's west coast system running the short-to-intermediate route tree."
Despite Kelce's immense physical gifts and seemingly natural fit in this offense, there is still one major impediment to his fantasy upside: playing time. For some reason, Kelce just doesn't see as many snaps as you would expect from such a talent.
"The Chiefs have played 283 snaps of offense this season, and despite being arguably their best weapon in the passing game, Kelce has played just 133 of them," ESPN Insider Sam Monson wrote. "There was obviously a desire to ease him back into action after microfracture knee surgery, but I think we all can see from the evidence that he is ready for a more complete workload. He has 18 receptions for 259 yards, ranking inside the top five at his position despite more than 40 fewer snaps than anybody else in the top 10. He is already commanding a big role in the offense, but it could be larger if he was on the field more."
Kelce could be an ideal buy-low candidate right now for any tight end needy team. His long-term upside is matched by few other players in the league. With just a small increase in playing time, Kelce could be one of the top-scoring fantasy tight ends in the NFL.
