Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce Ready to Breakout in 2015?

ByDan Schmelzer|

Last Thursday, the Kansas City Chiefs released veteran tight end Anthony Fasano, who had been their starting tight end for the better part of the last two seasons. Fasano was a solid player for the Chiefs, but his presence on the roster seemingly held back the talented Travis Kelce last season. With Fasano now gone, Kelce has an opportunity to shine at the tight end position for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs drafted Kelce in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He missed his entire rookie season after suffering a knee injury in training camp. Last season, a fully healthy Kelce burst on to the scene with an impressive 67 receptions for 862 yards and five touchdowns in fairly limited time.

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Kelce is an athletic freak with a great combination of size, speed and strength. His talents in the receiving game are obvious, and his potential is through the roof. Kelce appeared to have a strong rapport with quarterback Alex Smith, who used the tight end as a safety valve throughout the season.

The Chiefs also let Kelce show his ability to stretch the middle of the field at times last season. In the new age NFL, the athletic tight end is a massive weapon for passing games. Players like Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham have killed defenses over the middle of the field in recent years. Kelce has the upside to do the same for the Chiefs if given the opportunity.

With their lack of outside wide receiver options in 2014, Kelce was also given opportunities to line up as an outside receiver. While it may not have been utilized as much as you would like to see, the Chiefs did occasionally line Kelce up as an outside wide receiver where he created massive mismatches.

Try to cover a guy like Kelce with a corner, and he will beat you up with size and strength. Put a linebacker on him on the outside and he has the space to beat him with his impressive speed and quickness. For the most part, double coverage is a must when a talent like Kelce is lined up out wide. This is something that the Chiefs must take more advantage of in 2015.

As the highlight package above shows, Kelce is an extremely gifted receiver with impressive athletic skills and an incredible nose for the end- one. That being said, Kelce does struggle at times as a blocker. Fasano is known as a veteran tight end with very good blocking abilities. Despite Kelce’s obvious skills in the passing game, head coach Andy Reid appeared to feel safer with Fasano on the field a majority of the time last season.

It was frustrating for fans who saw Kelce’s massive potential to continually see Reid use Fasano over the potential star. However, blocking is a major part of the tight end position and it was something that Kelce struggled with. His pure power displayed some impressive blocks at times, but Kelce was very inconsistent as a run-blocker in 2015.

While Fasano leaving certainly appears to pave the way to more playing time for Kelce, the 25-year old tight end must improve his blocking skills in order to fully gain the trust of his head coach. With Jamaal Charles the focal point of the offense going forward, the running game is the number one priority for the Chiefs. If Kelce cannot block well, he will continue to see fairly limited playing time regardless of the other tight end options on the roster.

Kelce is an impressive talent who could grow to become a match-up nightmare. He must clean up his game a bit to take it to the next level but the Chiefs could have the next big star at the tight end position on their hands.

Expect big things out of Kelce in 2015.

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