Catching Kelce - 1,000 Yards or Bust for the Eighth Straight Season
A look at the best TE in the NFL and his pace to hit 1,000 yards
Just a glance at Kelce’s stat line for the season would lead you to believe that 1,000 yards is a given for the best TE in the NFL. Travis has 57 catches for 597 yards over eight games and has eight games to play. The problem he faces is that he has as many games with 60 yards or less this season as he has with more than 60 yards. He needs eight more games averaging 50.5 yards a game to reach 1,000 yards for the eighth straight season but over the last two games he’s averaged only 36 yards a game.
If we go back and review Kelces’ seasons since he started his streak he has averaged almost 1,230 yards per season with 2017 being his lone year under 1,125 yards. Kelce has been a dominant force in the NFL and has been an iron man only missing a game due to Covid before this year’s first injury-related game against the Lions. The older he gets the more likely he is to miss some time but he looks to be on pace to continue his streak this season.
His biggest hurdle to get to 1,000 yards probably isn’t even health. It’s that he is by far the biggest weapon the Chiefs have on offense and is likely to be double and triple-teamed throughout the remainder of the season. The Chiefs currently have one other pass catcher on pace for over 700 yards receiving in Rashee Rice and another on pace for over 500 yards in Justin Watson. The rest of the supporting cast currently is on pace for about 1,700 total yards if you remove Kelce, Rice, and Watson.