The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to rebound from a brutal Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite that loss, the Chiefs are still expected to be Super Bowl contenders as long as Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback, which could be for a long time.
In the past two years, there was uncertainty as to whether tight end Travis Kelce would continue playing or ultimately retire. After Super Bowl 59, Kelce announced he would return for the 2025 season. Even so, the Chiefs have to prepare to replace him, and that is no easy task.
During a recent episode of his podcast “New Heights,” Kelce provided some advice for rookies entering the league through the NFL Draft, which begins on Thursday night, and if he would have done anything different if he could back to his first year.
“When you’re a rookie, you could just get up and go,” Kelce said, h/t the Kansas City Star. “And on top of that … my first couple years I was dealing with injuries, so I was in Kansas City, and I was working on rehab, and I was working on strengthening a lot of things more than I was working on my overall game.”
The Chiefs have brought in multiple tight ends through the draft over the years, including Noah Gray and Jared Wiley. But with the tight end class in the 2025 class being viewed favorably, the Chiefs could opt to dip into those waters again.
In Field Yates’ final mock draft on Thursday, Mel Kiper Jr. provided some analysis and intel on some of the first-round picks. While Yates has the Chiefs taking Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant with the 31st overall pick, Kiper doesn’t rule out the team taking LSU tight end Mason Taylor.
“I think he’s much more likely to go early on Day 2, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised if LSU tight end Mason Taylor went to the Chiefs at No. 31. They’ll be looking for Travis Kelce’s future replacement,” writes Kiper.
Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland are the top two tight ends in the 2025 draft class. As for the third option, it is a bit of a dealer’s choice. Taylor does rank inside the Top 5 at the position, per ESPN. Taylor holds the distinction of being the first tight end in LSU history to record 100 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards in a career, which is a pretty wild statistic. As for pro comparisons, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert have been mentioned for the 6-foot-5, 251-pound prospect.
Kelce has said in the past that he would retire when head coach Andy Reid does, but even when Reid announced his return for next season, there was uncertainty for Kelce. For the Chiefs, it’s going to be difficult to find a replacement who can replicate what Kelce can bring to the offense, but they will have to begin at some point. Will that be in the back-end of Round 1? We’ll see.
