Subscribe
Follow Us
There is no doubt that Travis Kelce has been a key piece in the Kansas City Chiefs' success over the past few years. With him as the starting tight end, the team reached two consecutive Super Bowl appearances. They won Super Bowl LIV and Kelce had 43 receiving yards and a touchdown in the big game.
His individual accolades also contribute to his potential Hall of Fame selection once he retires. Kelce is a seven-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro, including three first-team selections, and he was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
Having Patrick Mahomes throwing bombs every game has definitely helped Kelce achieve 1,000 receiving yards in six seasons, a record for tight ends.
With all those achievements, it is difficult to not keep Kelce at the top of fantasy football boards. Securing him on a team could pay off every week.
With that being said, here is the fantasy outlook for Travis Kelce in the 2022 NFL season.
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Travis Kelce 2022 Fantasy Football Outlook
Last season, Kelce had 92 catches for 1,125 yards. Both of those were his lowest since the 2017 season. Because of that, after three straight seasons as TE1, Kelce was dethroned by Mark Andrews from the Baltimore Ravens. He also had his worst points per game (16.6) in the last five years, as well as career-lows in yards per route run (1.84) and Pro Football Focus grade (81.8).
Even though he was not No. 1, he still had excellent numbers. He topped 100 yards in five games. In the postseason, Kelce had 299 yards in three games, scoring three times, including the game winner in an overtime thriller against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round.
Kelce is still producing quality numbers for Kansas City, but at age 33 and the decline in his stats, it could indicate that his prime years are behind him. That being said, the tight end has the chance of significantly improving his numbers in 2022 due to multiple factors, both on and off the field.
Recently, Kansas City decided to give the veteran a raise in his contract, which was originally worth $57.25 million for four years. Despite his age, the Chiefs showed how much they trust their player, and it can motivate him to perform much better than last season.
The #Chiefs moved $3M forward from the back of Travis Kelce’s contract, giving him a raise for 2022, source said. https://t.co/MltYWFTZoB
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 27, 2022
Additionally, with longtime Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill being traded to the Miami Dolphins, Kelce's role in Kansas City's offense could significantly increase. Hill averaged 8.3 targets per game over the past five seasons, including a career-high 9.4 last year. In contrast, Kelce had 8.4 targets per contest in 2021, a career low for the former Cincinnati Bearcat.
The team also lost wide receivers Byron Pringle to the Chicago Bears and Demarcus Robinson to the Las Vegas Raiders. Both combined for 101 targets, which was 15 percent of the team total.
Now that Hill is no longer part of the roster and other important wide receivers left in free agency, it is likely that Mahomes will take an extra look to find one of his longtime teammates on the field. Because of all the moves, Kelce has a real chance of having a big increase in targets and total yards.
With all that, Kelce very likely will be the first tight end picked as a solid second-round selection in fantasy football leagues, with high possibilities of being a late first-rounder. Having Kelce on a roster in 2022 could be a guarantee of almost double-digit targets every week.
