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Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce sat out Week 17 of the 2017 season but still managed to post career highs in both targets and receiving touchdowns. That allowed him to finish as the highest-scoring PPR tight end in fantasy football for the second straight season, trailing only Rob Gronkowski in standard scoring formats.
There's no question that Kelce is one of the biggest difference makers that can be found in fantasy football. While the tight end position doesn't score as many points as other positions, the gap between the elite tier of tight ends and the rest of the pack looks like a giant chasm, and there's a real case to be made that Kelce should be the top tight end selected in fantasy drafts. The top quarterbacks score substantially more points than the top tight ends do but the difference between the top quarterbacks and the mid-level quarterbacks is nowhere near what it is at the tight end position. That's why Kelce is being considered by many experts to be a strong option in the third round of fantasy drafts this season.
Not only is Kelce among the most durable options at the position, he's still in his physical prime and he's coming off of back-to-back monster seasons. While Zach Ertz and Rob Gronkowski are both considered to be in the same tier as Kelce, those players have some question mark's as Ertz hasn't yet put together a 1,000-yard season and Gronkowski has a long injury history. That's not to say that Kelce is completely without risk, however. While he'll be in the same offensive system, a move from the tight end-friendly Alex Smith to a big-armed gunslinger like Patrick Mahomes might not be as smooth of a transition as fantasy owners want to believe. The old "tight ends are the safety valve for young quarterbacks" cliche is mostly a false narrative and Mahomes has great pass catching options practically no matter where he looks in this offense. Still, Kelce is the most seasoned playmaker in this offense and the Chiefs will almost certainly look to continue to feed him the ball from a schematic standpoint.
It will take time for Kelce to develop the type of familiarity with Mahomes that he had with Smith but at a position that severely lacks depth this season, Kelce looks like about as much of a can't-miss player as is possible at tight end. The projected point totals don't look as high as the elite running backs, wide receivers or especially quarterbacks, but Kelce could give his owners a gigantic point differential over the competition at the tight end position. If you find yourself not liking the running backs and receivers available to you in round three, don't hesitate to pull the trigger on Kelce. If nothing else, you'll have one fewer lineup decision headache each week.
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