Over the offseason, Travis Kelce signed a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs that made him the highest-paid tight end in the entire league. Unfortunately for him and the Chiefs, however, he is now in the midst of the worst season of his career.
As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk points out, Travis Kelce is now averaging a career-low 8.4 yards per catch – about four yards fewer than he has averaged his career previously.
“For most of Travis Kelce’s career, the Chiefs have known that if they got him the ball, he was good for about 12 or 13 yards: From Kelce’s first season as the Chiefs’ starting tight end in 2014 through 2022, Kelce averaged somewhere between 12.2 and 13.5 yards per catch every year. That is no longer the case,” Smith wrote for Pro Football Talk.
“In 2023, Kelce’s yards per catch average dropped significantly, to a career-low 10.6 yards. And this year, Kelce’s average has dropped significantly again, all the way down to 8.4 yards per catch, by far the worst mark of his career.”
Smith suggests that this drop in production is a direct result of Kelce’s age.
“At the age of 35, Kelce has lost a step, and as a result he’s running shorter routes and doing less with the ball in his hands. He’s also not finding the end zone as much, with just two touchdowns through 14 games. And his first downs have declined as well, from 78 in 2022 to 50 last year to 41 this year,” Smith wrote.
Needless to say, this is some pretty horrible news for the legendary tight end, and it sparked a lot of reactions on social media.
“Oh please let him retire!!! Now would be perfect,” one person wrote on X.
“Here’s a hot take: This will be Travis Kelce’s last season, and he’ll retire from the Chiefs after the season is over,” another fan speculated.
“He’s too busy dating and being an influencer!” someone else said of Kelce’s dip in production.
“Sad to see…” another person wrote.
“Travis Kelce’s production has plummeted to a career-low 8.4 yards per catch,” someone else shared.
We’ll have to see whether or not Kelce can still put up big numbers in the playoffs as he has become accustomed to doing.
