KC Kansas City Chiefs · TE· #87

Travis Kelce

Age
37
Height
6'5"
Weight
250 lbs
College
Cincinnati
Drafted
2013, No. 63 overall (KC)
Experience
14th NFL season

63

Overall grade

1st of 38 tight ends

Elite

well above average; 50 is average

Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days

The read

Travis's best number is share of the team's passes: 17%, 9th of 38 among tight ends.

Written from his numbers, not from film. 4 games are behind the season figures.

How he stacks up

Every graded stat at a glance, against all the tight ends in the league.

  • Yards after catch over expected+5.6 yds1st of 36small sample
  • EPA per target+0.742nd of 38small sample
  • Share of the team's passes17%9th of 38
  • Catches over expected+2.2 pts21st of 38small sample
  • Drop rate9.1%31st of 34small sample

Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying tight ends. Faded bars are still small samples.

How he has progressed

Where he has ranked among tight ends after each week, and every game behind it.

WorstMiddleBestrecent12345Week 2: 90th percentileWeek 3: 97th percentileWeek 4: 97th percentile97th

Season rank holding near the 97th percentile since Wk 2.

The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.

EPA per target game by game
WeekOpponentThat gametargetsSeason rank after
1vs DEN+0.995–
2vs IND+0.461190th pct
3vs MIA+3.26297th pct
4vs LV−0.06497th pct

One game is a small sample: a single stat over 6 targets can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.

The numbers, in context

Each one against every tight end with at least 12 targets. Right on the strip is better.

EPA per target

Elite

+0.74

2nd of 38 tight ends · top 6%

Expected points added: how many points the play added to (or took from) the offense's scoring chances, given the down, the distance and the field position. Every target counts, caught or not, so a receiver cannot hide behind a catch total.

The box score: Receiving yards rise with targets, not with what the targets were worth.

Does it show up in winning? Across 64 games league-wide, teams won 69% of the time when their tight end was in the best third on EPA per target, and 24% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +1.05 (6) vs +0.63 before+6.8grade points upWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets · true level likely +0.20 to +1.29

Catches over expected

Typical

+2.2 pts

21st of 38 tight ends · bottom 48%

His catch rate compared with what each target's difficulty predicted. +4 means he catches 4 more of every 100 targets than the throws suggested.

The box score: Catch rate rewards the receiver who is only thrown easy passes.

Does it show up in winning? Across 63 games league-wide, teams won 60% of the time when their tight end was in the best third on catches over expected, and 33% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: −0.9 pts (6) vs +3.3 pts before−2.3grade points downWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets · true level likely −13.3 pts to +17.6 pts

Yards after catch over expected

Elite

+5.6 yds

1st of 36 tight ends · top 3%

The yards he gains after the catch compared with what a typical receiver gets from that spot. It separates the player who makes defenders miss from the one who is simply open.

The box score: Yards after the catch is a total, not a comparison with where he caught it.

Does it show up in winning? Across 69 games league-wide, teams won 59% of the time when their tight end was in the best third on yards after catch over expected, and 39% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: +6.1 yds (3) vs +5.5 yds before+6.1grade points upWithin the noise

Small sample: could move a lot · 15 catches · true level likely +3.0 yds to +8.1 yds

Drop rate

Among the weakest

9.1%lower is better

31st of 34 tight ends · bottom 12%

Passes charted as drops, per target. Fewer is better. Almost everyone has few, so it is shown but not counted in his overall grade.

The box score: Drops are not an official stat.

Does it show up in winning? Across 52 games league-wide, a good or bad game on drop rate from a tight end has not lined up much with his team winning (41% wins in the best third, 65% in the worst).

Last 2 games: 0.0% (6) vs 12.5% before+16.7grade points upLeaning that way

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets · true level likely -2.5% to 20.7%

Share of the team's passes

Well above typical

17%

9th of 38 tight ends · top 24%

The portion of his team's pass attempts that were thrown to him, in the games he was targeted. It shows whether he is the focus of the offense.

The box score: Targets and receptions do not say how big the offense's passing game was.

Does it show up in winning? Across 172 games league-wide, teams won 56% of the time when their tight end was in the best third on share of the team's passes, and 37% when he was in the worst third.

Last 2 games: 11% (6) vs 21% before−17.6grade points downA clear change

Sample still growing · 22 targets · true level likely 11% to 22%

How he plays

Tendencies: how his game differs from the tight ends around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.

Average depth of target

Style

6.0 yds

Right around the middle of tight ends: a typical one is 6.3 yds.

How far downfield his targets are, on average. It is a role, not a grade.

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets

Deep targets

Style

9%

Goes deep often, more than most tight ends. A typical one is 6%.

The share of his targets that are 20 or more yards downfield.

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets

Contested targets

Style

5%

Gets targeted in open space, and more so than almost any of the tight ends. A typical one is 13%.

The share of his targets charted as contested: a defender is on him at the catch point. It says how he is used, not whether he wins.

Sample still growing · 22 targets

Screen targets

Style

9%

Is a screen target often, more than most tight ends. A typical one is 5%.

The share of his targets that are screen passes, a sign his yards come from the offense's design.

Small sample: could move a lot · 22 targets

Playing time

He has played in 4 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 80% of the team's offensive plays when he plays.

Each column is a game: the share of his team's offensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.

Game by game

Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.

Travis Kelce game by game
GameResultSnapsTgtRecYdsTDEPA/targetCROEYAC over exp.Target share
Wk 1 vs DENW 31–1071%53710+0.99−9.1 pts+15.7 yds18%
Wk 2 vs INDW 33–3085%1191011+0.46+9.0 pts+2.0 yds22%
Wk 3 vs MIAW 24–1079%22591+3.26+58.0 pts+19.3 yds9%
Wk 4 vs LVW 30–2783%42150−0.06−30.4 pts−0.5 yds13%

The box score

The traditional totals, with where each ranks among tight ends. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.

Travis Kelce box score totals
StatTotalRank
Targets2218th of 38
Receptions1617th of 38
Receiving yards2468th of 38
Receiving touchdowns212th of 38

Players with a similar profile

The tight ends whose grades are closest to his across the same stats. Similar means similar numbers, not the same style of play.

Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.

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Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.