Chiefs position review: Tight end

Will this be a year of transition for the tight end room?

[Editor’s note: KC Sports Network writers Herbie Teope and Tyler Brown look at the Chiefs’ position groups on both sides of the ball with a series of articles ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.]

Since the end of the 2014 season the Kansas City Chiefs have not had any question marks at the tight end position. We are now heading into the 2025 season and Chiefs Kingdom is embarking on a passing of the torch at the position, where it is believed to be Travis Kelce’s last dawning the red and gold.

The future Hall of Famer has one year left on his deal and you never know with these things, but the writing has been on the wall for this to be Kelce’s last before retirement for some time now. Barring that he completely falls off a cliff or catches an injury bug that has escaped him throughout his illustrious career, he is still a high end tight end-one in the NFL.

The offense no longer funnels through him and that is OK. He is still a highly productive player, posting 97 catches for 823 yards in 2024. Those numbers still rank him at third and fifth in the NFL, respectively.

Fifth-year tight end Noah Gray, who is fresh off of a new three-year, $18 million extension took another step forward in 2024. While he did finish the season with nine catches for 53 yards over his last seven games including the playoffs, he set a career high in catches, yards and touchdowns in the regular season, with 40, 437 and five.

When he has stretches with a lack of productivity it also comes with a lack of targets, so it is still unknown whether it is an opportunity or an inability to get open issue. With Kelce turning 36 in October, this season is a great season to figure that out.

There was a lot of training camp buzz on last years fourth-round pick, Jared Wiley but after hauling in his one and only target through seven games, he was gone for the season after tearing his ACL. In 2023 he did lead the nation in touchdowns by a tight end with eight at TCU in his senior season.

OUTLOOK

As for Kelce, the hope is that he could have a similar statistical season as the last, but perhaps while playing significantly less snaps. Someone his age, 35, could be more productive with fresher legs throughout the season.

Kelce posted seven-straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2016 to 2022, so he gets unfairly measured against a wide receiver-one type of profile because that is what he was. In reality, even a 600-yard tight end would rank in the top half of the league and a 700-yard receiver at the position would rank in the top eight, in most seasons.

If Kelce can muster 750 yards and Gray accomplishes a slight uptick to 500, for instance, that would be a successful season between the duo and it would likely keep everyone healthier for the playoffs. What cannot happen again is Kelce playing 84 percent of the snaps like he did in 2024, which was his highest since 2020. I am not sure that is helping anybody.

The real question about the tight end room, is who is going to be the guy in 2026? After getting inked to that three-year deal, I am sure they would love if Gray took the next step to prove he can be a starting tight end in this league. With his contract and them spending a fourth-round pick on Wiley last year, it will be interesting to see if they seek out tight ends in this week’s draft.

Tight end will likely not be a position they take high in the draft, given the front office and coaching staff have invested in Gray, but they may look for one in the middle-to-late rounds. That would come with the caveat that they are comfortable carrying four tight ends, which they have had no problems with in the past.

Drafting the best player no matter what the position group looks like is always the best practice. The Chiefs tested that theory last year when the tight end room seemed covered and then proceeded to lose Wiley, Peyton Hendershot and Jody Fortson for large stretches.

Other than Kelce, Gray and Wiley, Robert Tonyan is the only other tight end of note on the Chiefs 90-man roster. Baylor Cupp is there as well, but given that both of them spent time on Kansas City’s practice squad last season, general manager Brett Veach will not hesitate to pull the trigger if someone high on his board falls to him.

If they want to add athleticism to the room, they would eye early-to-mid-round talents such as Elijah Arroyo out of Miami or FBS tight end yardage leader Harold Fannin Jr. out of Ball State. Some late round gems could be Iowa’s Luke Lachey, if they want a well-rounded prospect or Clemson’s Jake Briningstool if they want a receiving-first tight end late.