Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has become arguably the league’s most recognizable non-quarterback — with a plethora of commercials and a much-watched romance you may have heard about.
However, the start of his 12th professional season seems unbecoming for an eventual first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame selection. Through two games, Kelce has only four catches for 39 yards. He has shockingly only been targeted seven times.
During Sunday’s 26-25 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, Kelce only recorded a single reception, marking the first time since 2018 he did not catch at least three passes in a game.
After the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes explained why he still feels like Kelce is contributing, even if the stats aren’t there.
Mahomes acknowledges his favorite target is seeing heavy coverage from opposing defenses.
“They’re doing a good job,” he observed of the competition, “of just having two people for him pretty much the entire game.”
There is an advantage, however, of one player commanding such attention: the ability for young wideouts Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy to make big plays of their own. Worthy announced his presence in Week 1 with two touchdowns in his rookie debut. On Sunday, Mahomes and Rice connected deep for one of the biggest plays of the second-year pro’s young career.
“That’s why you’ve seen guys like Rashee and Worthy,” Mahomes remarked. “If you look at the first touchdown, I’m actually looking at Trav, and the backside safety goes all the way across the field to help guard Travis, and I threw the ball on the sideline to Rashee.”
Mahomes believes there is a key reason for believing Kelce has more big moments in him that will show in the coming weeks. However, if the slow start continues, he has faith Kelce will still be charismatic.
“Obviously,” the league’s biggest star noted, “we’ve played two opponents [that] we’ve played a lot. They had a plan on how they were going to account for Travis, but as the season goes on, he’s going to get his catches. He’s going to get his yards.
“But the leader he is — what’s special is he’s hyping everybody up. He’s keeping everybody motivated — and that’s what you need out of your great players.”
Mahomes’ optimism aside, Rice appears to have overtaken Kelce as his primary target — not unexpected for a 24-year-old wide receiver whose skills somewhat overlap with the 34-year-old tight end. Through two games — on 15 targets — Rice has caught 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown.
No one knows how much longer Kelce’s career will last, but the target share shift in Rice’s favor is unlikely to change as Mahomes develops more trust with the second-year playmaker.
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