Chiefs TE Travis Kelce caught just three passes for 34 scoreless yards in Thursday night's win over the Ravens. Three Chiefs -- including TE Noah Gray -- finished with more yards. Volume was not on Kelce's side in this one. Kansas City ran just 50 plays after averaging 64.5 per game last year. And QB Patrick Mahomes threw only 28 times after averaging 37.3 per game last year.
We're not too worried about Kelce going forward. The Chiefs will run a lot more plays and throw a lot more passes in most games. And Kelce's Week 1 playing time was strong: An 89% snap rate and 87% route rate. By comparison, he registered an 80% route rate last season.
If there's a concern, it's that WR Rashee Rice picked up where he left off last year, leading the Chiefs with nine targets, seven catches, and 103 yards in Week 1. He takes a lot of the short targets over the middle of the field that Kelce has historically feasted on.
Kelce and Rice had big games together on multiple occasions over the second half of last season -- but that Chiefs team didn't have WRs Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown.
The days of Kelce dominating the TE position in fantasy points are gone, as we said all offseason. But as long as he continues to see this level of playing time in a Mahomes-led offense, he's a good bet for top-five production.
Next up for Kelce and the Chiefs is a Week 2 showdown vs. the Bengals.
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