Tight end Travis Kelce played just one game in 2013 because of a knee injury, which made last season his de facto rookie year.
It went well as Kelce led the team with 67 catches, 862 receiving yards and five touchdowns, but that workload didn’t satisfy the tight end’s desire for the ball. Quarterback Alex Smith said that he can hear Kelce suggesting different routes and making calls for the ball when the team is at the line of scrimmage because he wants a bigger piece of the action in 2015.
“That’s encouraging, because obviously, he’s a tremendous player, but it’s also great to kind of see that confidence there on the field, him calling for when he wants the football,” Smith said, via Fox Sports Kansas City. “As a quarterback, that’s encouraging. You want a bunch of guys out there that are feeling good about their matchups and want the football. Certainly for him, it’s understanding that -- as a young guy, sometimes, you’re out there and you’re just trying to do your job, so to speak -- and for him to understand when he’s got the good look and when it’s probably coming to him and to be calling for it, it’s fun.”
The dearth of wide receiver production was a major story in Kansas City last season and it overshadowed some of what Kelce did in an offense without other serious threats in the passing game. He also did it while playing on two-thirds of the snaps, so a jump in playing time and the expected difference of having Jeremy Maclin on the outside could have him in position for even bigger numbers this time around. That would bode well for the chances of Smith and the Chiefs continuing to have fun well into the regular season.
