Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce dubbed ‘ageless wonder’ by anonymous NFC personnel evaluator in ESPN annual Top 10 rankings
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has cracked ESPN’s Top 10 tight end rankings once more. Is it remarkable longevity at age 36 or the first clear year of the descent as he approaches the end of his NFL career?
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce continues to be recognized in the summer rankings series.
First, he was voted the No. 79 player in the league by his peers in the NFL Top 100 Players list. Now, he’s being recognized in ESPN’s annual Top-10 survey of executives, coaches, and scouts. Kelce landed in the last possible spot, No. 10, after placing No. 5 in the same survey last year.
Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, George Kittle, Sam LaPorta, Tyler Warren, Tucker Kraft, Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts, and Mark Andrews were the players to rank ahead of Kelce. Does cracking the Top-10 at age 36, with such a talented class of players, signal remarkable longevity or decline? His highest-ranked vote was No. 5, and his lowest ranking was unranked according to ESPN.
It would seem that he’s a polarizing figure at the tight end position in what could be his final year in the NFL.
Travis Kelce Quick Stats & Facts
Kelce completed his 13th NFL season in 2025. It was the first season since 2014 that he had not appeared in a playoff game.
- 108 targets
- 76 catches
- Long catch 44 yards
- 11.2 yards per catch
- 851 total yards
- 5 TDs
- 17 games played
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is taking cues from Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez to extend his career success
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler evoked some of the greatest tight ends to play long careers and how they extended their success. He says they used “savvy route-running to wiggle your way for first downs, hopefully with room to run.”
Kelce, of course, was one of the leaders in YAC (Yards After Catch) among tight ends in 2025, with 429 of his 851 yards coming after the catch. His performance drew some high praise from an anonymous NFC personnel executive.
“He’s still the ageless wonder at the position,” an NFC personnel evaluator said. “His elite route savvy, body control and instincts allow him to still compete at a high level, despite him getting up in age.”
Kelce ranked among the top 5 NFL tight ends in most statistical categories, including receptions, yards, and yards after catch. However, his efficiency metrics mirrored the Chiefs’ offense in 2025. It’s reasonable to think that Kelce’s 2026 NFL season will go as the offense does in Kansas City. If they get back to a well-balanced attack under OC Eric Bieniemy, Kelce could be a realistic beneficiary in the passing game. That’ll be especially true if NFL evaluators underrate him, as they did in this survey.