Travis Kelce sees a steep drop in 2026 NFL Top 100 player rankings, but the comments from his peers tell the real story
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce ranked No. 79 on the 2026 NFL Top 100. Is that ranking fair or too low for the veteran NFL star? It certainly doesn’t match his numbers or what his peers are still saying about him.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce landed at No. 79 on the player-voted 2026 NFL Top 100. It’s a steep fall from No. 37 the year before and his peak of No. 5 (2021, 2023). In fact, it’s the lowest ranking he’s received since 2016.
Kelce’s 2025 stat line — 76 catches, 851 yards, 5 TDs in 17 games — was a clear step down from his prime. However, he still ranked among the top 5 NFL tight ends in most statistical categories, including receptions, yards, and yards after catch.
At age 36, Kelce chose to run it back for a 14th season. Many wonder if 2026 will be his final campaign in the league. It raises the question that every aging NFL great one day faces: “When do you stop?”
If anything, his peers’ comments show exactly why he still chooses to play the game.
Travis Kelce’s Top-100 List History
Kelce has been voted to the list by his peers for 11 consecutive seasons.
- 2016: 91st
- 2017: 26th
- 2018: 24th
- 2019: 21st
- 2020: 18th
- 2021: 5th
- 2022: 10th
- 2023: 5th
- 2024: 9th
- 2025: 37th
- 2026: 79th
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s NFL peers tell the true story
The knee-jerk reaction to Kelce’s ranking is that No. 79 signals a first-ballot Hall of Fame player in decline. When you consider both his statistical rankings from a season ago and his NFL peers’ comments, it’s clear that Kelce’s decline is overstated.
“My biggest thing with him is just his juice,” Colts TE Mo Alie-Cox said. “When he makes a play, you’re gonna know he made a play; he’s gonna let everybody know about it for sure. Travis (Kelce), that’s my guy, man. His wiggle at the top of his routes, he always does this like he has a little wiggle about him that he knows how to create separation.”
At 35, Kelce was still getting free with his patented wiggle. He’s still one of the toughest players for defensive backs to cover because of the way he plays the game. It’s entirely unique to him.
“The thing I love about Travis (Kelce) is he plays his game in a specific way to him, and it’s like no other,” Rams DB Quentin Lake said. “He can push off you, he can tuck a little bit of jersey, he can swipe by you. It’s like he’s out there playing basketball with little kids sometimes. He’s doing crossovers, you know, wiggling his body to get your eyes off him. When you get a guy like that, that’s so smooth and doesn’t have any wasted movement, it’s hard to guard. To be able to do it for such a long time at such a high clip, too.”
One of the league’s up-and-coming tight ends, Raiders TE Brock Browers, pointed to Kelce’s veteran savvy.
“He has a savvy feel for the game and feel for space,” Bowers said. “Knows how to win against man coverage, too. So it definitely, definitely helps being around for a while.”
Then, of course, there’s the relationship between Kelce and QB Patrick Mahomes. Texans TE Dalton Schultz said what we’ve all come to learn since the 2018 NFL season.
“To be on the same page with Pat (Mahomes),” Schultz said. “When those two are firing, like they’re really hard to stop.”