Travis Kelce is back for another season in Kansas City at 37 years old. Now, he is the oldest tight end in the league by a comfortable margin. With Patrick Mahomes still throwing him the football and a receiver room full of question marks, should fantasy managers be drafting Kelce in 2026?
Should I Draft Travis Kelce in Fantasy Football?
I think if the Chiefs had not missed the playoffs last season, Kelce would have retired. Or maybe Taylor Swift talked him into playing one more year. Who knows?
Either way, he is back at the ripe young age of 37, the oldest tight end in the NFL. Surely Marcedes Lewis is actually done now, right?
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Amazingly, Kelce is still very much fantasy relevant, and I do not see that changing even this close to the end. The true greats tend to hold on. Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates both remained fantasy relevant until their final seasons, even as shells of their former selves. That is precisely where Kelce sits now.
He still has that connection with Mahomes. There will be games where the old Kelce shows up and reminds everyone what this was for a decade. The problem is that those games will be few and far between.
Consider how long it has actually been. Three years since Kelce posted a top-five season. Four years since he was a truly elite TE1. His 11.4 fantasy points per game last season matched 2014 for the lowest mark of his entire career.
The efficiency tells the same story. Once a genuinely dominant player in that regard, Kelce averaged 1.62 yards per route run last year, which ranked 17th at the position. He did still command a 19.7% target share, though that was largely a product of Kansas City having nobody else worth throwing to beyond Rashee Rice.
Is this year meaningfully different on that front? Rice is one of the least talented WR1s on any NFL roster. Xavier Worthy has yet to prove he is anything more than a gadget player. Tyquan Thornton had some moments last season and Cyrus Allen has been getting camp buzz, but Mahomes is not going to trust either of them over his best buddy.
So, even this version of Kelce remains a fantasy TE1. The trouble is that he is not a difference maker, and that distinction is everything at this position.
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Ask yourself what the real gap is between Kelce and Dalton Schultz at this point. Last season it was less than a single fantasy point per game. You can stream 10 PPG off waivers any week you need it.
Kelce is my TE11 against a TE10 ADP. There will come a point in every draft where I would consider him. His name value usually entices somebody else to take him well before I get there.
Katz’s TE Fantasy Rankings 2026
- Brock Bowers | LV
- Trey McBride | ARI
- Colston Loveland | CHI
- Tyler Warren | IND
- Sam LaPorta | DET
- Tucker Kraft | GB
- Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
- George Kittle | SF
- Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
- Dalton Kincaid | BUF
- Travis Kelce | KC
- Dallas Goedert | PHI
- Brenton Strange | JAX
- Isaiah Likely | NYG
- Mark Andrews | BAL
- Jake Ferguson | DAL
- Chig Okonkwo | WAS
- Juwan Johnson | NO
- Hunter Henry | NE
- T.J. Hockenson | MIN
- AJ Barner | SEA
- Greg Dulcich | MIA
- Kenyon Sadiq | NYJ
- Oronde Gadsden II | LAC
- Gunnar Helm | TEN
- Dalton Schultz | HOU
- Pat Freiermuth | PIT
- Colby Parkinson | LAR
- Terrance Ferguson | LAR
- Cade Otton | TB
