(05-05-2021, 06:08 PM)Eric1 Wrote:

(05-05-2021, 03:22 AM)JagsorDie Wrote: Travis Kelce has had 8 years in the NFL

5 with Alex smith/Foles/chase Daniels
3 with Mahomes

During the 5 With Alex smith 
2x 1000+ Yard
0x 10+TD
1x first team all pro
3 pro bowl
-Pretty good/arguably one of the top


During the 3 with Mahomes
All three- 1000+ yard
2x 10+ TD 
2x first team all pro
All three- Probowl 
1x second team all pro
-Best in the league/ I drafted him in the second round in a fantasy league( and didn’t regret it) type good.

Kinda half told stats.. He only played in 1 game his rookie season, so really he has only played 7 seasons in the big picture of things.

TEs usually take 2-4 years to develop as well. While he was developing, his 2nd and 3rd seasons weren't bad at all. 67 rec, 862 yards 5 TD and 72 rec, 875 yards 5 TD.

He then has had 5 straight 1k+ receiving yard seasons. 2 With Smith and 3 with Mahomes. Kelce has always been really good. Sure Mahomes makes everybody around him better because he's one of the best QBs in the game, but lets not act like Kelce still wouldn't be great if he wasn't with Mahomes. He'd still be putting up very similar numbers without him.

It's also not a coincidence that his numbers got better once they acquired Tyreek Hill in 2016 (Kelce's first 1k+ yard season), while still playing with Smith. That took a bunch of pressure off of Kelce because teams couldn't mainly just focus on him.

I cherry picked a little but the one undeniable piece is the td increase and the first team all pro picks IMO. I agree with you about the developmental process of a TE. It wouldn’t be a hard argument to make saying he was clearly trending upward regardless of who was his QB. But the point remains the same, IMO, that even without the first year, he played 4 years under smith and Co and those were his stats. 

I’m not going to act like we have a hidden Travis Kelce on our roster. But I think grading them on what minshew/bortles fed to them probably isn’t the best indicator of where they are capable of producing.

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