TE · Kansas City · 2026 outlook
Travis Kelce played all 17 games in 2025 and caught 76 passes for 851 yards, and draws a 4 out of 5 tight end schedule for 2026.
The decline is real and it is also being overstated. Seventy-six catches for 851 yards is not the Kelce of five years ago, and 11.2 yards a reception says the downfield work has mostly gone. What has not gone is the availability and the role: 17 games and a 19.7 percent target share means Kansas City is still throwing to him at a starter's rate, and 108 targets is more than most tight ends drafted around him will see. In full PPR, 76 receptions is a floor that does not require anything to break his way.
For 2026 he is the opposite of a swing. You are buying a known quantity at a price that has finally come down to meet it, with the softest schedule of anyone in this tier at 4 out of 5, and the earliest bye on the board in week 5. The scoring is the weak point, five touchdowns on 108 targets, and at his age the sensible expectation is more of the same rather than a bounce. Draft him if you would rather have a predictable TE8 than a lottery ticket, and let someone else take the eight-game samples ranked ahead of him.
No, though the version people remember is. Seventy-six catches and a 19.7 percent target share across 17 games is a starting tight end line. What is gone is the yardage per catch and the touchdown rate that made him a first-round pick.
He is the floor and they are the ceiling. Kraft and LaPorta played eight and nine games; Loveland has a 15 percent target share. Kelce played every game with more targets than any of them. Whether that is worth more depends on whether your roster needs certainty or upside.
It is the earliest on the board, which is the most awkward place for one. You will be covering it in week 5 with whoever you drafted, before waivers have produced anything useful. At tight end that usually means a genuinely bad week rather than a mild one.
These pages are free and stay free. gamedai is free to start, then $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
Open gamedai free