The Kansas City Chiefs will have to reinvent their offensive identity after tight end Travis Kelce retires.
Chicago Bears v Kansas City Chiefs / Cooper Neill/GettyImages
The Kansas City Chiefs offense began to blossom during the 2017 NFL season, when the team still had quarterback Alex Smith at the helm. Even then, it was evident that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid had built a dangerous aerial attack.
Reid’s variation of the West Coast system transformed after he watched Tom Brady pick apart his defense from a shotgun formation in Super Bowl XXXVII. During that Super Bowl loss against the New England Patriots, Reid’s offense had just 13 snaps from a shotgun formation. In 2022, Reid called 79.3 percent of his plays from shotgun.
Over the years, Reid built his variation of the West Coast system into a high-flying attack that led to the team’s recent success. The Chiefs have cemented themselves as a dynasty, and it likely wouldn’t have been possible without tight end Travis Kelce serving as the centerpiece of the offensive attack.
Chiefs offensive future is uncertain after Travis Kelce retires
Kelce spoke with reporters about his longevity and future after the Chiefs finished a training camp practice at Missouri Western State University on Saturday. Even last year, the 35-year-old veteran could tell that his time in the NFL was inching closer to its end.
“Last year was pretty taxing on my body,” Kelce said. “I’ve had more snaps than a lot of guys — if not everybody in the NFL — over the past five, six years, and I’m very prideful of that, but I know it has taken a toll on my body.”
In the Chiefs’ West Coast system, Kelce is frequently detached from the formation as a Y-Iso tight end. The alignment effectively positioned Kelce to play as a wide receiver despite being listed as a tight end, and the tight end has thrived in that role.
When Kelce retires, the Chiefs will have to redefine their offensive identity and find a new weapon to build around. Right now, it’s hard to envision what the next iteration of Reid’s offense will look like. Kansas City’s offensive unit has an elite interior offensive line that can produce a solid running game, but there is no dominant threat in the passing game.
Since logging a career-high 993 offensive snaps in his first season with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the future Hall of Fame tight end has seen his snap share steadily decline.
Kelce’s snap share fell from 95 percent in 2018 to 93 percent in 2019, then to 86 percent in 2020 and 82 percent in 2021. His snap count decreased to 80 percent in 2022, despite appearing in a career-high 17 games. Last season, Kelce was on the field for just 77 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.
Despite capturing his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl and a third Super Bowl championship, the 2023 season was difficult for Kelce. As the Chiefs wide receiver corps struggled, Kelce didn’t seem as capable as he once was of carrying the entire offense.
After seven consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards, Kelce notched just 984 yards and five touchdowns last season. By his standards, those are disappointing numbers.
Entering his 12th season in the NFL, Kelce knows that he needs to focus more on his training and recovery than he used to when he was younger.
“So it’s just making sure that my body’s getting that rest and that ability to train harder and be able to withstand an entire 17-to-20-game season,” Kelce said. “Over every single season you find ways to get better at what works for you, [eliminate] what doesn’t, and you just want to amp it up every single year so that you keep finding ways to kind of climb that staircase of success. I would say I’m doing some things differently but nothing really in the grand scheme of things. Just putting my nose to the grinder.”
The Chiefs made Kelce the highest-paid tight end this offseason despite his statistical dip last season. But they also drafted TCU tight end Jared Wiley in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, likely to get a head start on developing Kelce’s successor.
Whenever Kelce decides to hang up his cleats, he will undoubtedly be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The dominant tight end has accumulated four first-team All-Pro selections to go along with his nine Pro Bowl seasons and three Super Bowl championships.